Over his two-decade photography career, Lü Nan has created four impressive series. For each project, Lü spent anywhere from three months to eight years acquainting himself with his subjects, and it is this immersion in his stories that allows him to create such expansive yet intimate bodies of work. For "The Forgotten People: The State of Chinese Psychiatric Wards," Lü visited 38 mental hospitals and over 100 patients' families from 1989 to 1990. When the patient's condition permitted, he would ask questions in an attempt to present a more complete picture of his or her life. He was told stories of poverty, helplessness, abuse, and ignorance, but he also discovered how friendly and open many of the patients were, despite their suffering. He wanted to tell their stories, so that their suffering did not define them. For "On the Road: Catholics in China," Lü Nan spent four years (1992-1996) cataloging Catholic communities in a dozen provinces across China. Because religion, especially Catholicism, is a politically sensitive issue in China, Lü initially encountered significant resistance to the project. After a chance meeting with a well-respected Shanxi priest, Lü gained access to church services, the homes of believers, and ceremonies and sacraments. In "The Four Seasons: The Daily Lives of Tibetan Peasants," Lü presents the everyday existences of Tibetan peasants, shot between 1996 and 2004. The final series was chosen from over 120,000 images, arranged from spring to winter, showing all aspects of rural life, from work in the fields to festivals. In "Prison Camps in Northern Myanmar," Lü spent three months of 2006 in a prison camp for drug traffickers and drug users in Shan Province, Myanmar. The prisons were modeled after mainland Chinese prisons in the 1980s, and one of the most eye-catching remnants of that mimicry is the ankle shackles given to each prisoner; the greater the crime, the heavier the chains, which range from 3 kg to 63 kg.

Medium:  (1) Giclee print on Hahnemuhle glossy fine art paper
                (2) Gelatin silver print on Ilford fiber-based paper
                (3) Gelatin silver print on Ilford fiber-based paper
Dimensions:  (1) 60.9 x 91.4 cm
                      (2) 27.1 x 40.6 cm
                      (3) 33.9 x 50.8 cm
Edition:  (1) 10 (2) 8 (3) 2

Artist's Bio

Lü Nan (b. 1962, Beijing, China)

Solo Exhibitions:
2005 "Fifteen Years of Photographs by Lü Nan," Lianzhou Foto 2005, Lianzhou, China (Screening)
2005 "Fifteen Years of Photographs by Lü Nan," Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China (Screening)
2007 "Four Seasons: The Everyday Life of Tibetan Peasants," Inter Art Center / Gallery, Beijing, China
2007 "Fifteen Years of Photographs by Lü Nan," Songzhuang Museum of Art, Beijing, China
2008 "Prison Camps in Northern Myanmar," Visa pour l'Image, Perpignan, France (Screening)
2008 "Eternal Measure: Fifteen Years of Photographs by Lü Nan," Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2009 "Prison Camps in Northern Myanmar," Inter Art Center / Gallery, Beijing, China
2009 "Hidden Spiritual World: Fifteen Years of Photographs by Lü Nan," Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Tianjin, China
2010 "Heaven and Hell," St. Thomas Royal Monastery, Avila, Spain
2010 "Prison Camps in Northern Myanmar," CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
2011 "The Forgotten People: The State of Chinese Psychiatric Wards," Visa pour l'Image, Perpignan, France
2011 "On the Road: The Catholic Church in China," Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, USA

Group Exhibitions: 
1997 "Absolute Landscape: Between Illusion and Reality," Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan
2006 "Twenty Years of Contemporary Chinese Photography," Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, China
2007 Guangzhou Photography Biennale, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
2008 "Conversation 2008: China in Images," Inter Art Center / Gallery, Beijing, China
2008 "People – History," CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
2008 "Independent Chinese Photography," FotoFest, Houston, USA
2010 "Faces of Life: Contemporary Chinese Portraiture," CAFA Art Museum, Beijing, China
2010 "Reshaping History: New Chinese Art 2000-2009," National Convention Center, Beijing, China
2010 "Ten Chinese Artists at Age 20," Beijing Angle Modern Art, Beijing, China

Publications and Awards: 
1993 Published The Forgotten People: The State of Chinese Psychiatric Wards
2000 Published On the Road: The Catholic Church in China
2006 Republished The Forgotten People: The State of Chinese Psychiatric Wards
2007 Published Four Seasons: The Everyday Life of Tibetan Peasants
2008 Republished On the Road: The Catholic Church in China
2008 Republished The Forgotten People: The State of Chinese Psychiatric Wards
2009 Published Prison Camps in Northern Myanmar