Every story in photo essay begins with a detail that looks too small to carry the whole piece. This one began there too, with a question that became more useful the longer we left it unanswered.
Working with reflected light
The obvious approach was faster, but it flattened the parts that made the subject specific. We kept the rough edges, followed the evidence, and let the structure emerge from what the material actually needed.
Rain makes a second city beneath the first.
The result is not a universal method. It is a record of one careful attempt, useful because the constraints remain visible and the reader can decide what belongs in their own work.