Lü Houmin

At 86 years old, Lü Houmin physical status not available right now. We will update Lü Houmin's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Lü started working as the official photographer for the Chinese government in 1950. He was assigned to take pictures in Zhongnanhai of the main Chinese leaders of that time including chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai and President Liu Shaoqi. From 1950 to 1957, he worked in the photography section of the Central Garrison Bureau in the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and was hired by the Xinhua News Agency in 1958. Lü continued taking pictures from 1950 to 1964. Lü had to be always ready to take the correct image; in a 2008 interview with the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, he said, "You had to have your camera ready at all times, when the time came you could not doubt for a second, then the leaders would not hold the pose for you".

Many of Lü's pictures depicted Mao in a completely different manner from how he was normally seen as leader. The images portrayed him as a family man who enjoyed his free time by playing ping pong, joking with his children, and swimming. Lü refuted claims that Jiang Qing, Mao's third wife, learned photography from him, although he took pictures of her as well.

One of the most famous pictures taken by Lü was of Mao sitting on a stone bench and looking at Lushan Mountain in Jiangxi (1961). Another iconic photograph was taken in 1953 when Mao was embraced by one of the Chinese volunteers who were returning after the Korean war. Mao's son was killed by an airstrike in the War. A picture of Mao and Zhou Enlai showed them standing side by side, smiling and handing papers to each other. In a 2001 interview with People's Daily, Lü said that Mao had given him full freedom and never posed for the pictures, and he never complained about the picture-taking.

Lü Houmin was allowed (by Mao) to travel to Cuba to receive an award for his photography and to attend the opening ceremony for the Film Show of World People against Imperialists. In 1965, he became team leader of the Photography Department of the Xinhua News Agency, Jiangsu Branch. In 1979, he was appointed as the fourth National Literary Federation committee member, and Executive Director and Vice Executive Secretary of the Chinese Photographers Society. In 1985, Lü was the Permanent Secretary of the Secretariat of Chinese Photographers Society. He was also the vice president of the China Literary Federation and the Chinese Photographers Society. He was an honorary member of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, fifth vice-chairman, and the sixth and seventh consultant, of the China Photographers Association. His works have been shown in domestic and foreign photo exhibitions, and published in newspapers and magazines. He has held many solo exhibitions in Beijing, Tokyo, and New York City. He published four picture albums: Chairman's Elegant Demeanor, Mao Zedong, Public Servant, and Long Journey of Split of Time. Lü Houmin’s work was represented on the Sariwon Street of Hamhung in 1958. In 1961, he won the silver medal in the German International Photography Exhibition and the gold medal in the Soviet Union International Photography Exhibition. Lü described his period of working with Mao as the golden time in his life. He is regarded as one of the best photographers of Mao Zedong, along with Xu Xiaobing and Hou Bo.

Lü took part in an exhibition at the Shanghai Art Museum which featured 100 of his photographs of Mao, titled "Mao Zedong in My Lens". He also attended a photography exhibition in Beijing on 24 December 2014, to celebrate the 111th anniversary of Mao Zedong's birth, which was attended by Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China. Lu talked about his experience with photography, emphasizing that technology and knowledge are indispensable.

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