Alex Huanfa Cheng: water will discover a method round us

For Lampoon Issue 20, Fluid, Alex Huanfa Cheng imagines the physique as a altering panorama, the place trend follows the logic of water relatively than kind

Created for Lampoon Issue 20, Fluid, Alex Huanfa Cheng develops a photographic sequence wherein the physique is repeatedly reshaped by clothes, sculptural volumes and motion. Soft, inflated varieties encompass the figures, altering their proportions and dissolving the excellence between anatomy and garment. Rather than defining the physique, trend turns into a fabric that expands it, wraps round it and transforms its silhouette.

The pictures don’t depict water straight. Instead, they borrow its behaviour: adapting, flowing and occupying house with out fastened boundaries. Organic shapes, layered textiles and padded constructions counsel a physique that’s by no means static, however continually negotiating its relationship with the surroundings.

As Cheng explains: “We are made up of 90% water and water will find a way around us.”

The sequence treats fluidity as a bodily situation relatively than a metaphor. Identity is offered as one thing that shifts by contact, materials and house, whereas the physique turns into a porous floor the place trend, sculpture and pictures converge.

Photography Alex Huanfa Cheng, styling Ally Macrae

About Alex Huanfa Cheng

Alex Huanfa Cheng is a Chinese photographer primarily based in Paris. His work strikes between trend pictures, portraiture and long-term private analysis, analyzing the connection between the physique, reminiscence and on a regular basis life. Through editorial and impartial initiatives, he explores id as an evolving situation formed by time, materiality and human relationships.