Lu Guang was born in 1961, in Zhejiang Province, China. He has been passionate about photography since he held a camera for the first time, in 1980 when he was a factory worker in his hometown in Yongkang County. Between 1993 and 1995, he took classes at the Fine Arts Academy of Tsinghua University (formerly the Central Academy of Crafts and Fine Arts) in Beijing.
A freelance photographer since 1993, Lu Guang has developed major documentary projects in China, all at his own initiative, focusing on some of the most significant social, health, and environmental issues facing his country today. His photographic work includes stories on gold diggers, local coal miners, the SARS epidemic, drug addiction along the Sino-Burmese border, Aids villages in Henan Province, the environmental impact of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, industrial pollution and the medical effects of schistosomiasis (bilharzia).
His work on the Aids villages won First Prize in the Contemporary Issues category in the 2004 World Press Photo contest. His picture story on drug addicts in southern Yunnan was exhibited at Visa pour l’Image that same year. In 2005, he became the first photographer from China to be invited by the US Department of State as a visiting scholar. In 2008, Lu Guang won the Henri Nannan Prize in Photography in Germany; in 2009 he was a recipient of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund, and in 2010 he won a National Geographic Photography Grant.
Lu Guang was born in 1961, in Zhejiang Province, China. He has been passionate about photography since he held a camera for the first time, in 1980 when he was a factory worker in his hometown in Yongkang County. Between 1993 and 1995, he took classes at the Fine Arts Academy of Tsinghua University (formerly the Central Academy of Crafts and Fine Arts) in Beijing.
A freelance photographer since 1993, Lu Guang has developed major documentary projects in China, all at his own initiative, focusing on some of the most significant social, health, and environmental issues facing his country today. His photographic work includes stories on gold diggers, local coal miners, the SARS epidemic, drug addiction along the Sino-Burmese border, Aids villages in Henan Province, the environmental impact of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, industrial pollution and the medical effects of schistosomiasis (bilharzia).
His work on the Aids villages won First Prize in the Contemporary Issues category in the 2004 World Press Photo contest. His picture story on drug addicts in southern Yunnan was exhibited at Visa pour l’Image that same year. In 2005, he became the first photographer from China to be invited by the US Department of State as a visiting scholar. In 2008, Lu Guang won the Henri Nannan Prize in Photography in Germany; in 2009 he was a recipient of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund, and in 2010 he won a National Geographic Photography Grant.
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untame flow stay releaseAug 31 – Nov 29, 2026untame flow stay release presents artistic practices undertaken in response to unjust, environmentally toxic and ableist structures – systems that continue to suppress individuals and communities by individualizing violence...
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I Want To See A Lighthouseby Gary Briechle
Gary Briechle’s practice is disciplined, almost monastic. Every day roving around Rockland, Maine in an SUV loaded with chemicals, looking at the same mundane scenes and subjects, but expecting different results.
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2027 Brooks International Fellowship ProgrammeDeadline: October 21, 2026
Tate, in collaboration with Delfina Foundation, invites applications for the Brooks International Fellowship Programme 2027. Now in its thirteenth year, the programme will enable practitioners to work with Tate…
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Panorama: Dreams and PlacesFeb 19 – Oct 18, 2026Aiming to present a thematic narrative on contemporary photography and lens-based art in Türkiye, “Panorama: Dreams and Places” brings together a comprehensive selection of works produced since the 2010s by 18 artists from different generations.
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World Press Photo 2026Winners & ExhibitionsWorld Press Photo is an independent non-profit organization that champions the power of photojournalism and documentary photography to deepen understanding of the world’s complexities, promote dialogue, and inspire action.
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Relic 4: Larry AchiampongOct 16 – Dec 12, 2026This autumn, Larry Achiampong will present his new film Relic 4 (2026) at KARST, revisiting the cinematic universe of the Relic Traveller project after a six-year hiatus. Exploring themes of fallen empire, class, and displacement...
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Artpil / Work OpportunitiesCollaborationsArtpil is seeking to expand the team. From contributors to freelance individuals. Whether you are a writer, photographer, designer, art director, we want to hear from you.
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Wallace StevensPoetMore than any other modern poet, Wallace Stevens was concerned with the transformative power of the imagination. Composing poems on his way to and from the office and in the evenings, Stevens continued to spend his days behind a desk at the office...
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Marc Chagall: The CircusNov 21, 2026 – Apr 25, 2027
Throughout his prolific career, Marc Chagall (1887–1985) returned time and again to the vivid imagery of acrobats, clowns and fantastical performers. Marc Chagall: The Circus will present Chagall’s celebrated lithographs on this subject…
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Lotta Antonsson: I Am EverythingApr 25 – Nov 29, 2026One of Sweden’s leading contemporary photographers, Lotta Antonsson, is coming to Fotografiska with I Am Everything. In this exhibition, the artist explores themes of gender, identity, and objectification within a visual world
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Wolf TonesOct 3, 2026 – Apr 4, 2027
Wolf Tones presents the work of six artists as a refracted analogy of an acoustic phenomenon. The wolf tone is an irregular vibration produced by a musical instrument such as the cello. It is the result of an acoustic conflict produced by its wooden body.
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Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the SensesMay 16 – Dec 6, 2026
Van Herpen transcends conventional clothing norms while embracing both traditional couture artisanship and innovative techniques. Ranging from the micro to the macro, the exhibition explores the body’s place in space…
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Urban Art Biennale 2026May 15 – Nov 15, 2026The URBAN ART BIENNALE is one of the world’s largest exhibitions of this anarchic art form, which transcends conventional ‘white cube’ aesthetics. Since 2011, every two years, the entire site of the Völklinger Hütte enters into dialog with this art form...
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Calculating Empires / Kate Crawford & Vladan JolerNov 27, 2025 – Jan 31, 2027The monumental installation Calculating Empires impressively demonstrates how power and technology have been intertwined for centuries. The work, by artist-researchers Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler, and has been acquired by Rijksmuseum Twenthe...
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Constellations: Contemporary Jewelry from the Dallas Museum of ArtJul 10, 2026 – Jan 3, 2027
“Constellations: Contemporary Jewelry from the Dallas Museum of Art” showcases more than 350 works from one of the most significant contemporary jewelry collections in the United States.
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Mohammed Sami: HostlessOct 3, 2026 – Jan 3, 2027In his new body of work Hostless, Mohammed Sami focuses predominantly on internal spaces. The paintings become a site for mnemonic processes, mental operations in which abstraction falters and something unsettling begins to seep through.
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Robert Rauschenberg & the NewsFeb 19, 2026 – Jan 4, 2027The New School Art Collection and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics are pleased to present Robert Rauschenberg & the News: Select Prints from The New School Art Collection...
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Lars TunbjörkPhotographerWhether creating an acid portrait of Sweden, representing the nightmarish world of business offices, tapping into the desolate uniformity of petrified, petit-bourgeois neighborhoods, Lars Tunbjörk has totally forgotten his black and white beginnings.
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