Before We Explain the World

Photography by Lu Heng

5The Scale of Time

Earth and Weather

Story 33 of 51 · 10 photographs

Steam rises from the ground, ice covers water, heavy clouds hang above fields. These landscapes may seem still, yet something is happening within them. Look for the small signs of change.

  1. White steam rises from a pale valley surrounded by green forest.
    219

    Steam among the trees

  2. Geothermal steam at sunset; Steam rises from a blue geothermal pool as orange light spreads across the horizon.
    220

    Geothermal steam at sunset

  1. An aerial view of fragmented land and water, with pale patches around the sun’s reflection.
    221

    Light across broken water

  1. Red, yellow and grey-blue clouds stretch across the sky above dark fields.
    222

    Colour above the fields

  2. Bright sunlight breaks between thick, dark bands of cloud.
    223

    Between banks of cloud

  1. Golden rays through cloud; Dark cloud bands cross a yellow sky above a silhouetted ridge.
    224

    Golden rays through cloud

  2. Sunlight above a harbour at dawn; Sunlight breaks through scattered clouds above harbour water and dark rooftops.
    225

    Sunlight above a harbour at dawn

  1. Trees beneath an orange and blue dawn; A dark tree line separates an orange horizon from a deep blue sky.
    226

    Trees beneath an orange and blue dawn

  2. A desert horizon in warm light; Faint tracks cross a hazy plain beneath a pale gold sky.
    227

    A desert horizon in warm light

  3. Dramatic light above hills and a city; A broad fan of mottled clouds spreads over a shadowed plain.
    228

    Dramatic light above hills and a city