Lu Houmin

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Lu.
Lu Houmin
Born (1928-09-09)9 September 1928
Yilan County, Heilongjiang, China
Died 9 March 2015(2015-03-09) (aged 86)
Beijing, China
Nationality Chinese
Occupation Photographer of the Chinese government
Political party Communist Party of China
Awards Gold medal in Soviet Union International Photography Exhibition (1961)
World's Great Artists by New York Eastern and Western Artists Association (1997)
Outstanding Contribution Award from International Federation of Photographic Art (1997)

Lu Houmin (Simplified Chinese 路吼民; 9 September 1928 – 9 March 2015), was a Chinese photographer who gained national and international recognition for taking official photographs of Chinese leaders, notably Mao Zedong from 1950 to 1964. Lu initially took teaching and later chose photography as profession.[1] He was dubbed as Mao's private photographer[2] since many of his photographs were different from contemporary ones.

Lu though having faced cultural revolution maintained a rather friendly and simple image of Mao Zedong throughout his life.[3] Houmin was also recipient of international awards on photography.[4][5]

Early life

Lu Houmin was born on 9 September 1928[6] in Yilan County to a Han family,[7] Heilongjiang Province.[8] Houmin taught in an elementary school in March 1948,[6] and then joined Communist Party of China.[7] At the age of 21, he was asked to take photos of top Chinese leaders.[8]

Career

Lu started working as the official photographer for the Chinese government in 1950,[1] thereby assigned to take pictures in Zhongnanhai[2] of the main Chinese leaders of that time including Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai and President Liu Shaoqi.[8] In the period 1950 to 1957, he had worked in the photography section of the Central Garrison Bureau in the General Office of CPC Central Committee[6] and hired by Xinhua in 1958.[9] Houmin photography continued from 1950 to 1964.[3] Lu had to be always ready to take the correct image, in an interview to Hong Kong daily South China Morning Post in 2008, 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".[8]

Many of Lu's pictures depicted Mao in a completely different fashion contrary to him as a leader. The images portrayed him as a family man who liked to ping pong[1] or playing happily, joking with his children and enjoying free time through swimming and table tennis.[8] He refuted claims that Jiang Qing, Mao's third wife learned photography from him although he took pictures of her as well.[2]

One of the most famous taken by Houmin was of Mao sitting on a stone bench and looking on top of 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.[1] One famous picture was of Mao and Zhou Enlai standing side by side, smiling friendly and handing papers to each other.[3] In an 2001 interview with People's Daily Lu told that Mao had given him full freedom while taking the images, never made any poses for the same,[1] and never complained about the pictures,[3] thus he had felt very comfortable.[10]

Positions held

Lu Houmin was allowed by Mao to travel to Cuba to receive an award for his photography[1][2] and to attend the opening ceremony of the Film Show of World People against Imperialists.[4] In 1965 he became the team leader of Photography Department in Jiangsu Branch of Xinhua News Agency. In 1979, he was appointed as the fourth national literary federation committee member, Executive Director and Vice Executive Secretary of Chinese Photographers Society. In 1985, Lu was the Permanent Secretary of Secretariat of Chinese Photographers Society. He was also the vice president of China Literary Federation and Chinese Photographers Society.[5] He was an honorary member of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, fifth vice-chairman of China Photographers Association, and sixth and seventh consultant of China Photographers Association. His works have been shown in domestic and foreign photo exhibitions for many times, and have been published in newspapers and magazines. He has held many solo exhibitions in Beijing, Tokyo, New York, etc. He published four picture albums, Chairman's Elegant Demeanor,Mao Zedong, Public Servant and Long Journey of Split of Time.[7] Lu Houmin’s work was represented on the Sariwon street of Hamhung in 1958, he had won silver medal in German International Photography Exhibition and gold medal of Soviet Union International Photography Exhibition in 1961.[5] Houmin had described the period of having worked with Mao as the golden time in his life[2] and has been regarded as one of the best photographers of Mao Zedong along with Xu Xiaobing and Hou Bo.[7]

Other works

Lu took part in exhibition at the Shanghai Art Museum which featured 100 of his photographs of Mao, titled "Mao Zedong In My Lens".[2] He also attended photography exhibition opened in Beijing on December 24, 2014 to celebrate 111th birth anniversary of Mao Zedong, which was attended by Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China. He talked about his knowledge and insights for photography, laid emphasis that technology and knowledge are indispensable.[10]

Views on Mao Zedong

Lu had described Mao in his own words, "I shall never forget the time I spent with Chairman Mao. Although a great leader, he struck me more like a kind older person. His virtues, like his strong will, courage and resourcefulness, tolerance, integrity and simplicity, have always inspired me"[3] Houmin also mentioned Mao also as a person who would care deeply about his staff, he cited that he was allowed by Mao to travel to Cuba to receive an award.[1] According to him Mao was extremely thrifty having only a well-patched blanket and one pair of leather shoes and was able to convince the staff not to get privileged, he also loved his daughters much.[2]

Lu was targeted during the cultural revolution and was sent to Jiangsu countryside to be reeducated with his family for seven years. He said that he didn't felt tortured since he had loved peace and harmony of the countryside to be close to nature.[1] Later on his friend's suggestion he wrote a letter to Mao thereby getting a new job in Jiangxi, on writing a second letter he was able to return to Beijing.[2][8] In an interview to Shanghai Daily in 2009, Lu said he never thought to write his memories with Mao since his pictures were more powerful and honest.[8] Lu having special connection with Mao, kept meeting his family members in memorial activities on him.[2] Houmin would also go to Mao's memorial hall with his former staff every September 9 and December 26, dates of Mao's death and birth.[1]

Death

The Shanghai-based media outlet thepaper.cn reported Lu's death due to cancer on 9 March 2015 at the age of 88.[11][12] His death was also reported by Taiwan's outlet China Times.[13] According to Beijing News, Houmin's funeral was held on Sunday and was attended by Mao's grandson Mao Xinyu and hundreds of photographers and artists. Mao had described Lu as "short and hardworking".[12]

Recognition

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, February 26, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.