PHOTOGRAPHER Lu Guang is internationally celebrated for documenting the deeply disturbing human cost of pollution in China, but in his motherland his horrific images have been deeply controversial.

A Greenpeace-commissioned photographer, Lu gets almost unbearably close to human suffering and death, one of the taboo topics in China. Some say his work is sensational, and it is. Lu says it must shock.

"I photograph because I want to bring change and the truth and to make my country a better place," said 46-year-old Lu, a native of Zhejiang Province. "I may portray a darker, bleaker side of China, but this is in hopes of improving the lives of people," Lu told Shanghai Daily in a recent telephone interview from Zhejiang.

His ongoing work "Pollution in China" depicts some of the most shocking, gory and heartbreaking photos of people affected by China's rapid industrialization that poisons its air, water and soil. He has been doing it for five years and it has become a life's mission.

Lu has delivered the same kind of high-impact documentary photography with the Dalian oil spill last July, capturing the death of firefighter Zhang Liang flailing about as he was drowning in crude oil released by a pipeline blast. Lu took 47 photos over 334 seconds. In May he won the World Press Photo Awards third place (spot news) award for that work.

Earlier, he took the same, close up and human view of a village ravaged by AIDS in Henan Province, where people once sold their blood. Probably his most famous work is a pieta-like color photograph that captures two skeletal figures, one cradling the other. It won first prize in the 2003 World Press Photo Awards.

He has tackled the gold rush in western China, drug addicts in Yunnan Province near the "Golden Triangle" of Southeast Asian; China's small coal mines, the SARS epidemic, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, construction of the Qinghai-Tibet railway; and how the 2008 Olympic Games changed China.

Controversy

Some of his material has been blocked on the Internet.

The Chinese government is well aware of the high cost of headlong industrialization and is trying to rebalance the economic structure. It has made environmental protection and cleaning up the environment one of its priorities of sustainable development.

Addressing the controversy surrounding his ghastly images, Lu said, "People believe that I am exposing wounds to the media, but what they don't understand is that this is necessary for change.

"I know that if these wounds aren't exposed, they won't be treated. If they aren't treated, how can we expect to bring peace and prosperity to the people with so much danger still around?"

In 2009, Lu received the W. Eugene Smith award and grant in 2009 for "humanistic photos" showing the impact of pollution in China. He also won a National Geographic award.

Lu Guang first encountered photography at the age of 20 while touring a mountain region and finding himself powerfully moved by the breathtaking scenery. He worked in factories and finally studied social documentary photography at the Tsinghua University Central Academy of Fine Arts. Today he has his own photo agency.

He has never stopped freezing moments that have meaning. His projects over the years have generated controversy and raised awareness. But his work has also brought some environmental cleanups and improvements.

"I will go wherever there is pollution," said Lu of his thus-far five-year effort. "This is a never-ending project, one that will be my lifelong project."

His photos usually depict China's poorest people, the real victims of pollution, the people at the bottom of the social ladder, the people who have little voice and need jobs in polluting industry.

There are photos of children born with limbs deformed because their mother drank polluted water while they were pregnant, people dying of cancer after years of breathing and drinking pollutants, people gagging on the air they breathe.In one photo a man with terminal cancer caused by pollution puts his ear to the large belly of his pregnant wife to hear their child. He died soon afterward and never saw the birth.

He takes pictures from hell. Polluted landscapes have eerily colored yellow and orange toxic smoke pouring from factories into the sky; there are desolate mines, devastated, soot-covered miners, poisoned bodies of water with pipes jutting out and spluttering out more poison. Of course, there are towering mountains of trash.

Many images show damage that is irreversible, and human beings yearning for help before it is too late.

Lu said he wants to help China "industrialize in a healthy way."

Despite many government efforts and edicts, many companies operate illegally.

"They come, they pollute, and they cause deaths. But they never leave any good," Lu said, adding that he sees death wherever he goes.

"If there wasn't pollution, they wouldn't have to die," he said. "These firms are little more than mindless machines - there's no science and no knowledge, not to mention compassion; they're heartless."

One of the calamities that Lu is now documenting is the over-mining of coal in the grasslands, at "a secret location that cannot be disclosed."

At the current rate of production, a year's output today is equivalent to 30 years' output in the past, he said. "I understand the need for coal, especially with the growing demand for energy consumption. But when this is all gone, we will regret it and ask ourselves why we didn't do anything to stop it while it was not too late.

"It's not too late now, but it will be soon."

Lu said there is hope for China's environment and sustainable development, "lots of hope and there will always be hope. But the changes I have witnessed are sometimes disguised and misleading."

He cited his work depicting pollution of water supplies caused by factories' toxic discharge and said he returned a few years later to see that the problem apparently had been fixed.

Documenting the truth

"I rejoiced at first, until I found out that this wasn't really change, it was a twisted form of change - the sewage pipes are now buried and empty into the sea. (See "sewage fountain" Photo No. 2 on this page.) The same problem still exists but now it's hidden from the human eye."

Out of sight, out of mind, but not for Lu who continues to turn his lens on companies that put profits above all else.

He believes that as companies become more successful and expand they become more conscious of their image.

"When this happens, they will come to understand that actions that cause pollution will do no good to their image. That's when they will embark on the road to positive change."

Another problem for Lu is raising awareness in his own country - he's like the prophet honored everywhere except in his own land.

"You need power and influence to expose these problems," he said. "Publishing is an issue, but the only way to raise awareness of the plight of these victims is to publish their photos, and give people a visual image of their stories.

"I have to document the truth, as dismal as it might be, because only then can we solve this and bring change. I repeat that there's hope, but how fast these issues are resolve will be the next big challenge."

Some environmental problems may be mitigated and some lands restored, a sustainable path may be seriously undertaken.

"It's much too late for the dead. Too many young lives have been lost, too many fatal diseases contracted, too many lives have been sacrificed," Lu said.

He said he never becomes desensitized to horror and tragedy. He is still shocked by the loss of innocent life in the reckless pursuit of profits and growth.

"The thing about photographs is that they create more impact than you can imagine. You can write about pollution, give facts and figures.

"But one photograph depicting this will generate more shock and awareness than words can. This is why I chose photography. This is why I am a photographer - to bring change and to bring the truth."

What others say

"There are many people who like to photograph China, but there are few people shooting with the spirit of humanity and having the courage to focus on the sensitive issues causing great harm to human being. Lu is still not the mainstream in China, a country that's growing so fast and will never stop. But we will finally pay for what we are consuming. So Lu's work, which reveals the truth, is a warning to us. Lu takes risks to accomplish those photos, he is a very brave person and we do need this kind of photographer."

Famous Shanghai photographer Deke Erh, a pioneer in documenting China's rapid changes



"Lu is a controversial figure. On one hand, he shot sensitive topics such as the AIDS village, drug addicts, poachers and environmental pollution. He is the first from the Chinese mainland to win the W. Eugene Smith Award. Now he uses his lens to record China's history, in an effort to help solve problems. He is not simply a photo journalist, he represents the mission that our journalists should accomplish, or an even higher mission. On the other hand, his works have been not only acclaimed but also criticized. Many people, especially in photography circles, have questioned his methods and his works' authenticity."

Liu Xingzhe, deputy director of the Oriental Morning Post's Photography Department



"Lu Gung is probably the first people who exposed Henan's AIDS problem to the public through his lens. He's got a lot of criticism due to that. But today, I think many people would feel grateful for his exposure of the issue."

Robert Pledge, a rounder of the World Press Photo Foundation