Before We Explain the World

Photography by Lu Heng

6Life Itself

Small Things Kept

Story 49 of 51 · 11 photographs

A footprint and a few shells begin at our feet. A seed and a feather bring us closer still. Then the view opens: a boat beneath a word, two people facing the evening, shapes made and hung by hand. Near the end, someone has left a sentence beneath a tree. We leave along a path under flowers, looking ahead again.

  1. A footprint pressed into textured sand, with several pale and pinkish shells near its toes. Short shadows fall to the right.
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    A footprint, a few shells

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  1. A single seed with a white tuft is held between two sunlit fingers. A car window, mirror and dark interior are blurred behind it.
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    Held between two fingers

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  2. A brown feather runs diagonally across a blurred green and blue background. Its pale shaft and separated strands stand out near the lower edge.
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    The edge of a feather

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  1. A white boat seen from above on turquoise water. The word “Love” and a sentence about choosing a life partner are printed across the upper right of the photograph.
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    A boat beneath a word

    Text in the image: heading “Love”; below it, “Choosing your partner is literally the MOST important choice you will ever make as an adult and it will impact all aspects of your life.”

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  2. Two people sit apart on a sunlit grassy hill, with a folding chair between them. Long shadows stretch toward the camera; a city and water lie beyond two palm trees.
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    Two people, the evening ahead

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  1. Close view of a sculpture with pale raised arms and a face in profile. The reddish patterned garment has carved folds, against a warm brown background.
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    Arms raised, folds below

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  2. Red, orange and yellow flower-shaped forms hang in sweeping clusters beneath a glass roof. The pale roof framework crosses the blue sky behind them.
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    Flowers above us

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  1. Small red flags with yellow stars hang diagonally among sunlit green leaves. A string of bulbs follows the line; the lower part of the view falls into shade.
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    Red across the green

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  2. Rows of red, orange, pink, yellow, purple and green paper pinwheels hang among dark tree trunks. Sunlight enters from the upper right.
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    Paper pinwheels in the trees

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  1. The words “Once I was beautiful” are written in pale blue on a rough dark surface in the foreground. Behind it are a large leafy tree, an empty swing, grass and sunlit houses.
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    “Once I was beautiful”

    Words in the image: “Once I was beautiful”.

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  2. A narrow path runs between two handrails toward a bright opening. Pink flowers and green branches hang overhead, with soft patches of light across the path.
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    A path beneath the flowers

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