"Jonathan is 21-years younger than me, and my childhood memories of my relationship with my father have since found echoes – to some extent – in Jonathan’s experience."
Artist: Sarah Mei Herman
Project: Julian & Jonathan
Book t o be released in November 2024
"Begun in 2005, Julian & Jonathan is my most extensive body of work, portraying the relationship between my father, Jullian, and my half-brother, Jonathan. I’m interested in the triangulation between us; the changing proximity and distance we share, and the peculiar feeling of looking in on a world to which I don’t fully belong.
Over the years, the dynamic between them – and us – has ebbed and flowed. Sometimes they were close, and at other times they were further removed from one another. They have both dealt with the hardship of loss and its many painful consequences. My images of Jonathan throughout his youth, whether alone or with our father, chronicle these shifts and turns. With each photographic session, I attempt to get closer to him, to establish connection, to understand his inner world; at times, the resistance I’m met with only fuels my intrigue to know more. The project is as much about me and my family as it is about their separate universe."
"Throughout her practice, Sarah Mei 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. 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."
© Sarah Mei Herman