Meredith Sherlock

The Solace in Solitude

The photographic series The Solace in Solitude (2021-) reveals how solitude holds the ability to act as a vehicle for pleasure, helping one achieve accessible and sustainable joy derived from the self. During a time where life’s perceivably happy memories are reserved for public consumption on social media platforms, this work investigates how purposeful disconnect from our ever-encroaching world can give way to deeper self-realization. Facilitated by a consistent, early-morning walking practice across verdant corners of New York City, the resulting vignettes are theatres of my own desires for access to natural beauty, simple pleasures, and solitary leisure. Depicting quietude and atypical views of the city, the work uncovers encounters that are unassumingly romantic, escapist and, at times, even mysterious. These photographs represent moments I am intrinsically drawn to in solitude, and they exist as an extension of my authentic self.