Before We Explain the World

Photography by Lu Heng

3The World We Build

Working Water

Story 18 of 51 · 10 photographs

Start close to a rusting hull. Step back, and you can see how the ship, the water and the bridge sit together. Cargo ships and passenger boats turn an expanse of water into somewhere to work, to travel and to come ashore.

  1. The weathered blue-green bow of a boat fills the frame beside calm water, with ropes and a red mast above.
    125

    An old boat by the water

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  1. A moored ship and the long reflections of its lights fill a still blue harbour.
    126

    Lights on a docked ship

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  2. A container ship approaches beneath the camera, leaving two white wakes.
    127

    A cargo ship on calm water

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  1. A large cruise ship with white decks and a dark hull crosses calm blue water, seen from above.
    128

    A cruise ship at sea

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  2. An arched bridge crosses green-blue water towards a wooded shore, with low hills beyond.
    129

    A bridge across the water

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  1. A long, pale ship lies along a low waterfront beneath a broad blue sky.
    130

    A ship beside the shore

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  2. A low sun glows above the water beside a dark harbour wall and slender poles, with distant land beneath orange-lit clouds.
    131

    Low sun over the harbour

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  1. Below overhanging branches, a small boat leaves a curving wake on still water.
    132

    The wake of a small boat

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  2. A long boat with bare masts rests on pale water beneath a blue sky.
    133

    A boat beneath a blue sky

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  3. In black and white, a propeller and rudder hang beneath the dark underside of a boat.
    134

    A propeller beneath the boat

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