Growing up is an important theme in my work. I mainly focus on young adolescents; on their constant state of becoming; trying to capture the fleeting beauty of the continual changes they go through on their way to adulthood. I’m drawn to the intensity, vulnerability and sometimes loneliness of these stages. This ongoing series shows the young people that fascinate me – most of them I have been photographing over a long period of time – photographed alone or together with their sibling, friend or love.
Part of series I made about girls with a eating disorder.
I have photographed the brother and sister Sem and Isa several times over the past years.
During a trip to Ireland last year I focussed on young Irish adolescents, photographing them and their intimate relationships.
I started photographing the identical twin sisters Jana and Feby in 2005. They are 19 years old now. I have always been fascinated by their extreme closeness, both mentally and physically. The relationship between identical twins is probably the closest possible relationship there is.
I started photographing the English brothers Fred and Archie in 2010 during my studies in London.
I started photographing the English brothers Fred and Archie in 2010 during my studies in London.
I started photographing the identical twin sisters Jana and Feby in 2005. They are 20 years old now. I have always been fascinated by their extreme closeness, both mentally and physically. The relationship between identical twins is probably the closest possible relationship there is.
I started photographing the identical twin sisters Jana and Feby in 2005. They are 20 years old now. I have always been fascinated by their extreme closeness, both mentally and physically. The relationship between identical twins is probably the closest possible relationship there is.
I started photographing the English brothers Fred and Archie in 2010 during my studies in London.
I started photographing the English brothers Fred and Archie in 2010 during my studies in London.
Part of series I made about girls with a eating disorder.
Part of series I made about girls with a eating disorder.
During a trip to Ireland in 2013 I focused on young Irish adolescents, photographing them and their intimate relationships.
Part of series “Screen Touch” made in Xiamen, China, during a four month artist in residence.
I started photographing the identical twin sisters Jana and Feby in 2005. They are 19 years old now. I have always been fascinated by their extreme closeness, both mentally and physically. The relationship between identical twins is probably the closest possible relationship there is.
Bio
Sarah Mei Herman was born in Amsterdam in 1980. She studied photography at the Royal Academy of Fine Art in The Hague, from which she received her BA in 2005. In 2010 she completed her MA in Photography at The Royal College of Art in London. Sarah Mei Herman has received several grants from Mondriaan Fund and Prins Bernard Cultuur Fund. Her work has been shown internationally, among others at The National Portrait Gallery in London and at Le Chateau d’Eau in Toulouse. In 2010 her ongoing series Julian and Jonathan was selected for the Talent issue of Foam Magazine.
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Sarah Mei Herman
“She studied photography at the Royal Academy of Fine Art in The Hague, from which she received her BA in 2005. In 2010 she completed her MA in Photography at The Royal College of Art in London. Sarah Mei Herman has received several grants from Mondriaan Fund and Prins Bernard Cultuur Fund. Her work has been shown internationally, among others at The National Portrait Gallery in London and at Le Chateau d’Eau in Toulouse. In 2010 her ongoing series Julian and Jonathan was selected for the Talent issue of Foam Magazine.”
… All that and still able to produce soulless vacant work like this is a testament to the vacuity in modern BFA and MFA courses and teachers. One of the most boring catalogue shot essays I have seen in a long time.
Obviously that look is a thing and I see lots of pictures like these but they seem really soulless to me. Do you ask people to stand there and look bored? I have no idea. Unlike John I’ve seen much worse but that only makes this the middle of the road.
technically well done but before reading the 2 prior comments i had the same reaction. are these subjects really that lost & sad?
I couldn’t disagree more with the above commenters:
“I’m drawn to the intensity, vulnerability and sometimes loneliness of these stages.” They don’t look sad per se but the point of the images, according to Sarah, was to show those emotions that young people have as they are reaching adulthood. And I think she captured it perfectly.
I think with other sites (like the BJP), we do see a lot of photo essays that are at a huge disconnect with the text accompanying it. But not this time. Sarah’s images reflect exactly what her text claims. You may not like the images, and that’s your subjective opinion, but she did achieve what she intended in these images.
I say good job Sarah. I hope to see more from you.
To John Gladdy:
I’m sorry to hear that you think my work is boring, vacant and soulless.
What I search for is very subtle, and what might be empty and soulless to you, is full of emotion and intensity to me.
I guess you stop, where I start looking.
You may be searching for it unfortunately photographically it fails to be communicated …..there is more than one facial expression available to humans
sarahmeiherman. You will find very few people commenting here who will blow smoke up your ass. what you will get is honest opinions(although obviously subjective) from a wide range of photographers and artists/teachers. Glad you took the time to reply.
>>>Sarah’s images reflect exactly what her text claims. You may not like the images, and that’s your subjective opinion, but she did achieve what she intended in these images…I say good job Sarah. I hope to see more from you.<<<
Achieving what was intended is as a low standard as I can think of for a photo essay, not to speak of art. Certainly, I would like to see more from Sarah — but with more range of expression, more creativity and more interest for the viewer.
This one pains me a bit – because I see so much talent, hard work, creativity and I see the solo portrait of Fred as a true piece of art, but I was also struck with the same feeling expressed by most of those above. I realize that there are many in the art photography world who do believe that the way to best convey the deepest of feelings, soul, is to condense it all down into one, blank, expression that show no feeling at all, but I have never agreed. I think range of feeling is a good thing to capture. All the more so in youth, who feel the full range of emotion so deeply.