Walking Through Light and Shadow — Chi’s Architectural Meditation

In an era where mobile photography continues to redefine visual storytelling, LeE-papa (Chi Leung Liu) stands out with Unmoored, a work that bridges architecture, emotion, and the psychology of space. Awarded the Gold Award in Mobile Photography at the BEST PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS UK 2025 Autumn Season, the image demonstrates how a handheld device—paired with clear conceptual intent—can capture ideas far beyond its compact form.

Based in Horsham, UK and originally from Hong Kong, Chi’s multidisciplinary background in illustration, design, and photography shapes a unique visual voice. Through Archimprint, the independent art platform he founded, he continues to explore the intersection of architecture, memory, and urban narrative. Unmoored extends this inquiry with elegance and restraint, offering a visual meditation on time, solitude, and human scale.

What begins as an architectural photograph becomes, through Chi’s lens, a metaphor for emotional dislocation and quiet introspection. The Ouse Valley Viaduct — a 19th-century structure built from millions of red bricks — becomes both the stage and the protagonist in a dialogue between permanence and impermanence, structure and vulnerability.

Q: Could you share the background and setting of this award-winning photo?

Chi: This work, titled Unmoored, was photographed at the Ouse Valley Viaduct in West Sussex, England — a 19th-century railway bridge built from millions of red bricks. Standing beneath its repeating arches, I was drawn to the sense of infinite perspective. The structure’s rhythm of light and shadow made me reflect on the cycles of time and the balance between human fragility and architectural permanence.

Q: Is there a particular detail in this photo that you especially love?

Chi: I especially love the subtle gradation of light between the arches. The way light moves across the brick surfaces creates both precision and poetry. The solitary figure at the center feels like a traveler through time — adding life to an otherwise monumental structure.

Q: Did you have any specific inspiration or artistic concept in mind during the creation?

Chi: The idea came from a feeling of being “unmoored” in time — of drifting between history and the present. In Unmoored, I wanted to capture that tension between order and uncertainty, and how architecture can become a mirror of our own inner state.

Q: What do you hope viewers will feel or reflect upon when they see this photo?

Chi: I hope viewers can sense both the rhythm of time and the depth of space within the image. It conveys a feeling that is steady yet uncertain — like walking through the flow of everyday life, suspended between the past and the future. Beyond depicting the grandeur of architecture and the smallness of human presence, this photo is also a reflection of an inner state — a quiet search for one’s own rhythm within space.

I am an illustrator, designer, and photography-based artist from Hong Kong, currently based in Horsham, UK. I founded Archimprint, an independent art platform exploring the relationship between architecture, memory, and urban narrative through visual storytelling.

Website: www.archimprint.com

Instagram: @archimprint