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Solace: Portraits of Queer Chinese Youth
An illuminating portrait of young LGBTQ people in China, the latest addition to the acclaimed photobook series celebrating LGBTQ communities around the world.
“People have become less and less afraid to show who they are. I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel yet, but we’ve been in the dark for so long that we know you’ve got to make yourself glow, otherwise there’s even less light.” —Wei Xiaogang, filmmaker and activist
Same-sex relationships have been an accepted part of Chinese culture for centuries. It was only in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, under the influence of the West, that homophobia became more prevalent; and under Mao, homosexuality was criminalized. By the turn of the last millennium, same-sex relationships were once again legal, and by 2001, homosexuality had been declassified as a mental disorder. Polling suggests that the younger generation embraces sexual diversity and LGBTQ rights. But the stigma against queer people still remains. Recent reports from China have noted government attempts to clamp down on LGBTQ media and events, and numerous citizens are still being sent by family members to conversion therapy.
Photographer Sarah Mei Herman first started photographing young queer people and their personal relationships during an artist residency in Xiamen in Fujian Province on China’s southeastern coast. As she explored what drew these people together, she herself built up close friendships with her subjects and, even after her residency had ended, returned to Xiamen to photograph them, capturing the way they have changed over the course of a number of years.
The sixteenth entry in The New Press’s worldwide LGBTQ photobook series, Solace is a stunning collection of full-color photos in a beautiful, affordable volume. It provides a portrait of young people navigating the ambiguities of friendship and sexuality as they enter adulthood and grapple with what it means to be queer in modern-day China.
“People have become less and less afraid to show who they are. I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel yet, but we’ve been in the dark for so long that we know you’ve got to make yourself glow, otherwise there’s even less light.” —Wei Xiaogang, filmmaker and activist
Same-sex relationships have been an accepted part of Chinese culture for centuries. It was only in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, under the influence of the West, that homophobia became more prevalent; and under Mao, homosexuality was criminalized. By the turn of the last millennium, same-sex relationships were once again legal, and by 2001, homosexuality had been declassified as a mental disorder. Polling suggests that the younger generation embraces sexual diversity and LGBTQ rights. But the stigma against queer people still remains. Recent reports from China have noted government attempts to clamp down on LGBTQ media and events, and numerous citizens are still being sent by family members to conversion therapy.
Photographer Sarah Mei Herman first started photographing young queer people and their personal relationships during an artist residency in Xiamen in Fujian Province on China’s southeastern coast. As she explored what drew these people together, she herself built up close friendships with her subjects and, even after her residency had ended, returned to Xiamen to photograph them, capturing the way they have changed over the course of a number of years.
The sixteenth entry in The New Press’s worldwide LGBTQ photobook series, Solace is a stunning collection of full-color photos in a beautiful, affordable volume. It provides a portrait of young people navigating the ambiguities of friendship and sexuality as they enter adulthood and grapple with what it means to be queer in modern-day China.
144 pages, Paperback
First published November 22, 2022
18 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Mei Herman
2 booksSarah Mei Herman (b. 1980, NL) holds a BA in Photography from The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, and an MA in Fine Art Photography from London’s Royal College of Art.
Herman’s work has been exhibited internationally, at institutions and festivals such as The National Portrait Gallery, London; The Benaki Museum, Athens; Photo Elysée, Lausanne; Le Château d’Eau, Toulouse; The Jewish History Museum, Amsterdam; and the JIMEI x ARLES International Photo Festival, Xiamen. Her projects have been recognised by a range of prizes and awards, including the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, the Hyères Festival of Fashion and Photography, and the V&A Parasol Women in Photography Prize. Her work is found in several public and private art collections, whilst her images have been published by the likes of iD, Vogue Italia, Foam Magazine, Paper Journal and Dear Dave. In 2024, Herman’s second photo book – Julian & Jonathan – will be published by the London-based GOST Books.
Throughout her practice, Herman explores relationships, loneliness, longing, intimacy and the human urge for physical proximity. Probing gently at the things that bridge and divide her subjects, her projects pay close attention to the vulnerability of transitory life stages – from the trials and fleeting beauty of adolescence to the grey areas between friendship and romance. At times, Herman’s position is that of a relative outsider: she comes to know her subjects through the act of portraying them. Elsewhere, Herman's placement is closer to the story, training her lens – for instance – on the complex dynamics of her own family.
The notion of time is of equal importance to Herman’s work; photographing the same subjects over many years, she charts fluid cycles of transition and evolution, as well as what remains unchanged and unmoving. The approach reflects the artist’s own preoccupation with the passage of time – or the fear of what’s lost in the process. Immersed in image-making, time feels slowed down or even briefly suspended, turning up a chance to crystallise both a moment and a memory.
Herman’s work has been exhibited internationally, at institutions and festivals such as The National Portrait Gallery, London; The Benaki Museum, Athens; Photo Elysée, Lausanne; Le Château d’Eau, Toulouse; The Jewish History Museum, Amsterdam; and the JIMEI x ARLES International Photo Festival, Xiamen. Her projects have been recognised by a range of prizes and awards, including the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, the Hyères Festival of Fashion and Photography, and the V&A Parasol Women in Photography Prize. Her work is found in several public and private art collections, whilst her images have been published by the likes of iD, Vogue Italia, Foam Magazine, Paper Journal and Dear Dave. In 2024, Herman’s second photo book – Julian & Jonathan – will be published by the London-based GOST Books.
Throughout her practice, Herman explores relationships, loneliness, longing, intimacy and the human urge for physical proximity. Probing gently at the things that bridge and divide her subjects, her projects pay close attention to the vulnerability of transitory life stages – from the trials and fleeting beauty of adolescence to the grey areas between friendship and romance. At times, Herman’s position is that of a relative outsider: she comes to know her subjects through the act of portraying them. Elsewhere, Herman's placement is closer to the story, training her lens – for instance – on the complex dynamics of her own family.
The notion of time is of equal importance to Herman’s work; photographing the same subjects over many years, she charts fluid cycles of transition and evolution, as well as what remains unchanged and unmoving. The approach reflects the artist’s own preoccupation with the passage of time – or the fear of what’s lost in the process. Immersed in image-making, time feels slowed down or even briefly suspended, turning up a chance to crystallise both a moment and a memory.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 8, 2023
this was good i’m just annoyed bc why do they have to include white / chinese couples like that was the only biracial examples other than chinese / chinese
December 8, 2025
This book was so tragically beautiful. Ugh, and it’s about defining love, being queer, being Chinese, and FAMILY??? Why don’t you just shoot me in the fucking heart. Made me really reflect on my privilege as a queer Chinese-American living in America and not China. The amount of folks who were still closeted to their parents or always trying to negotiate or find compromise… so sad but so real. Ugh and “I hope to stop falling in love with straight men…” girl same. “I hope to repay my parents” and “I love [my parents] from the bottom of my heart; I’ve never told them though” had me sobbing. I’ll definitely be checking out more books from this beautiful series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews