In his Vancouver studio, artist Jeff Wall reluctantly discusses why and how he created his 2014 photograph Changing Room. Upon close examination viewers will realize that the perspective they’re seeing is that of the mirror’s—an impossible angle to capture. “The impossibility of seeing it was one of the triggers for it becoming interesting,” says Wall, who often creates replicas of places and scenes that he’s experienced or imagined before deploying the camera to capture the shot.

By not immediately revealing what the woman is doing or how he made the image, Wall is encouraging viewers to examine the work closely and draw their own conclusions. “What I’ve told you is something that if you pay attention to that picture and get involved in it, it will come to you,” he says. “And when it comes to you it will be exciting.”