Before We Explain the World

Photography by Lu Heng

5The Scale of Time

Water Keeps the Light

Story 35 of 51 · 6 photographs

The sky’s colours take on the shapes of ripples, islands and wet sand. In each photograph, look at how the water catches the light and then breaks it apart.

  1. Clouds reflected in a lake; Sunlight breaks over a mountain edge and draws a bright path across the lake.
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    Clouds reflected in a lake

  2. Sea before distant mountains; A small red sun rests beside a distant mountain silhouette across rippled water.
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    Sea before distant mountains

  1. Golden light on the waves; A bright sun just above the sea casts a broken reflection across rolling waves.
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    Golden light on the waves

  2. Golden clouds above the sea; Bands of peach and orange cloud hang above a low strip of dark sea.
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    Golden clouds above the sea

  1. A pastel sunset over the shore; Channels in wet sand catch the low light beneath layered clouds.
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    A pastel sunset over the shore

  2. An orange sunset over calm waves; The sun sits just above dark waves beneath an orange band of cloud.
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    An orange sunset over calm waves