Solace
Nominee DuPho. SO Award 2023
In her practice, Sarah Mei Herman examines the relationships and intimacy between people, what brings them together or sets them apart, and how physical proximity to others is a human necessity.
‘In response to my ongoing project ‘Touch’ which I started during an artist in residence at the Chinese European Art centre in Xiamen, China, I was approached by Jurek Wajdowicz – artist and director of Graphic design studio Emerson & Wajdowicz Studios (EWS) to produce an extensive photography project about the LGBTQ+ community in China. EWS specializes in socially-conscious multi-media design and art. They design a series of photography books completely devoted to LGBTQ-themed stories, showcasing the rich diversity and complexity of its communities around the world.
In September 2019 I traveled to Xiamen to start this project. I portrayed 14 young queer people (couples and singles). I found all of them through my existing network in Xiamen and we got into contact through. Apart from the photographs I took of these subjects and their personal surroundings, I also interviewed them about their life, love and also, their personal fears. Because of the pandemic I haven’t been able to return to Xiamen. This is why, two years after my trip to Xiamen, I decided to continue the project here in the Netherlands, photographing young Chinese people from the LGBTQ+ community here.
In China gay-sexuality is not illegal anymore but it is still unaccepted by society and the older generations. Hardly any of the young people I met and photographed for this project are able to speak openly to their parents about their sexual preferences.’
The book was be published by The New Press in New York and was released in December 2022.
More about the Dutch Photography Award: dupho.nl