Sarah Mei developed a project Solace centering stories of queerness among Chinese people. These stories offer a sensitive and nuanced portrait of young people navigating the ambiguities of friendship, sexuality, and an undulating understanding of what it means to be queer in Chinese society.
Same-sex relationships used to be a traditionally accepted part of Chinese culture. Under the influence of the West in the 18-19th centuries, homophobia became more prevalent; under Mao, homosexuality was criminalised. Since the turn of the last millennium, same-sex relationships returned to their legal status, and homosexuality declassified as a mental disorder. The younger generation embraces LGBTQ rights, but the stigma against queer people still remains. The project Solace by Sarah Mei Herman evinces portraits of queer youth in modern China — a book with an expansive selection from the project was published in New York in December 2022.
The project was shortlisted for the Gomma Photography Grant 2022 and awarded an honourable mention. Recently, one of the portraits from Solace was selected for the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2022 in London.