Lu Guang (卢广) (born 1961) is a Chinese independent

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

. His work consists of large documentary projects on social, environmental, and economic issues, exposing the lives of "people on the margins of Chinese society: coal miners, drug addicts, HIV patients." His stories on pollution and environmental destruction cover topics traditionally under-reported due to the risk of punishment by the Chinese government. He has received three World Press Photo awards, the

Henri Nannen Prize Gruner + Jahr is a publishing house headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. The company was founded in 1965 by , , and Gerd Bucerius. From 1969 to 1973, Bertelsmann acquired a majority share in the company and gradually increased it over time. After ...

for photojournalism, the W. Eugene Smith Grant, a photography grant from the ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

,'' and the

Prince Claus Award The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Fund has presented the international Prince Claus Awards annually si ...

. Lu is based in New York City, the first Chinese photographer to be invited by the U.S. State Department as a visiting scholar, and

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. In early November 2018, whilst travelling in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

, he was taken away by state security agents. He was released in 2019.

Life and work

Lu was born in 1961 in the city of Yongkang in the

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

province of China. He grew up under

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

's policies in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. At the age of fifteen, following Mao's death, China underwent economic change with the introduction of Western industrialization. In 1980, Lu encountered photography while working in a silk factory in Yongkang. From 1987 until 1993, he ran his own photo studio. Later, he studied photography at the Fine Arts Academy of

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...

(

) from 1993 to 1995. He worked for several years on advertising assignments before going freelance as a reportage photographer. During his years of study at Tsinghua University, Lu encountered Xie Hairong, another Chinese photographer, from whom he gained inspiration to become a photojournalist. Lu's work covers a wide range of consequences of China's rapid industrialization. A reoccurring theme is that of " cancer villages" in certain affected provinces, the negative environmental conditions (such as water pollution) causing these cancer villages and other related health issues, and the effect of industrialization on Chinese countrysides and its people. Lu has stated that his choice of subject in his photography is done to raise awareness in both China and on a global scale.

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

province is the setting for a photograph within the series capturing severe birth defects present in the children living there. The province is also one of the most polluted areas in China. Beyond the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

, Lu also documented pollution in the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

River and the

Qiantang River The Qiantang River, formerly known as the Hangchow River and alternatively romanised as the Tsientang River, is a river in East China. An important commercial artery, it runs for through Zhejiang, passing through the provincial capital Hangz ...

, with leaking sewage from the industrial districts. Heavy sewage and air pollution in

Anyang Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively. It had a ...

City of Henan province is shown negatively affecting the lives of villagers. His projects have included one on

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

in the Chinese province of

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

as well as ''Pollution in China,'' ''Gold Rush'', ''Drug Girl,'' and ''Development and Pollution''. Lu's photographs have been published in the ''

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

,'' and by

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

. "Un des leurs", ''Greenpeace Member'' magazine 4/2017,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, pages 21-25. He lives in New York. Because of his reporting on social issues, Lu has faced attempts to stop his work. Lu is based in New York City, the first Chinese photographer to be invited by the U.S. State Department as a visiting scholar, and

. In early November 2018, whilst travelling in

, Lu was taken away by state security agents and has not been heard from since. A restrictive security regime with re-education camps for the predominantly Muslim ethnic

Uyghurs The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...

and

Kazakhs The Kazakhs (also spelled Qazaqs; Kazakh: , , , , , ; the English name is transliterated from Russian; russian: казахи) are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group native to northern parts of Central Asia, chiefly Kazakhstan, but also parts o ...

is in place in the region.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

is concerned Lu's detention may relate to this situation in the region and has called on the Chinese government to "release him immediately", and

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

has called on it to "immediately confirm and clarify" his "whereabouts and well-being". In September 2019, Lu's wife Xu Xiaoli published on Twitter that Lu had been home for a few months.

Awards

* 2004: First Prize, World Press Photo, Contemporary Issues category, for a story about Henan province peasants who had been infected with HIV after selling their blood. * 2008:

for photojournalism from Gruner + Jahr. * 2009: $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography from the

W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund is an organisation established to encourage and support individuals who are active in the field of photography for humanitarian purposes. It gives out the W. Eugene Smith Grant and Howard Chapnick Grant. Since 1979 ...

for his project ''Pollution in China.'' * 2010: Photography grant from ''

'' to support a project documenting pollution in China and its impact on people's lives. * 2011: Third Prize, World Press Photo, Spot News category. * 2013:

."Lu Gang: speech by ambassador Jacobi"
,

Prince Claus Fund The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Fund has presented the international Prince Claus Awards annually si ...

(page visited on 29 December 2017). * 2015: Third Prize, World Press Photo, Long-Term Projects category for his project ''Development and Pollution'' in China.

Exhibitions

*2017: ''Development and Pollution,'' Visa pour l'Image, Perpignan, France

References

External links

* Sample work
Pollution in China
* Lu Guang Interview
World Press Photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Guang 1961 births Living people Tsinghua University alumni Artists from Zhejiang Chinese photojournalists