Before We Explain the World

Photography by Lu Heng

2You are entering

The Position of Looking

Doorframes, glass, buildings overhead. A place can hold more than one view.

2The Position of Looking

Inside, Outside

Story 9 of 51 · 9 photographs

Doorways, openings and skylights give the sky different frames. Notice the edges of each photograph. Where Lu Heng stands changes what fits inside the image and what remains beyond it.

  1. Warm light falls on a wooden door and vertical entrance slats, beside shaded stone and foliage.
    52

    At the wooden doorway

  1. A blue passage towards white buildings; A blue shadowed arch frames white walls and a small patch of sunlit ground.
    53

    A blue passage towards white buildings

  2. A dark stone opening frames a small patch of sky and bright cloud.
    54

    Light through an opening

  1. Two tall decorated gateposts appear as black silhouettes, leaving a narrow strip of bright sky between them.
    55

    Sky between gateposts

  2. Sky in a square skylight; A square opening in a ceiling reveals a small, clear patch of blue sky.
    56

    Sky in a square skylight

  1. A dark bench sits before a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking water, grass and trees.
    57

    A bench at the window

  2. A black-and-white city view through tall windows, with a distant spire and an interior column to the right.
    58

    A tower beyond the window

  1. Light through curtains; A chair and table sit in a dark room, outlined by light through a tall window.
    59

    Light through curtains

  2. Fruit and champagne beside a window; A tall arched window opens onto the sea, with a small table set below it.
    60

    Fruit and champagne beside a window

Lu Heng on the two layers of power