Yao Lu, born in Beijing in 1967, is a professor and master's supervisor in the Photography Department of the School of Design at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Printmaking from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1991 and her Master of Fine Arts degree in Visual Arts from the joint postgraduate program between the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Australia in 2000. She began teaching at the Central Academy of Fine Arts that same year. Her work, *Springtime at the Ancient Ferry*, won the 2008 Paris Photo Award, and her *Chinese Landscape* series was shortlisted for the 2009 Prix Pictet World Environmental Photography Award.

From 1991 to 1997, Yao Lu worked as an editor and reporter for the *China Land and Resources News*. In 2008, she was appointed as an adjunct professor at the School of Art, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, and in 2009, she became a visiting professor at the School of Art, Yanbian University. Since 2010, she has served as a judge for competitions such as the National Photography Art Exhibition and the 'Burch Cup' Creative Photography Competition. Solo exhibitions include "Yao Lu Solo Photography Exhibition" at the Hayward Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia in 2013, and "Yao Lu New Landscape" exhibition at the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Turkey in 2011. Group exhibitions include the Asian Contemporary Art Exhibition at the Wisconsin-Madison Museum of Art, USA. Representative works include the "APPLE" series, the "Burning" series, and the "Concealment and Reconstruction – Yao Lu New Landscape" series.

In February 2026, he was invited to join the Asian Arts Association Singapore (Fine Art Photography) as a Lifetime Member.

Generally speaking, my works use the form of traditional Chinese painting to express the face of China. China is developing dramatically today and many things in China are under constant construction. Meanwhile many things have disappeared and continue to disappear. The dumps and rubbish covered with the 'shield', the green netting, are a ubiquitous phenomenon in China.

I want the world to be able to make a benign transformation. People must protect the environment. This work implies that the world should become more and more harmonious.

Photography can be understood in traditional ways : It can 'record' many histories long before our own time, and it can take people back to times and situations many years ago. But photography also is very contemporary. It can re-assemble and re-edit the things that we actually see in order to produce illusions that people see when they are in front of such photographic works. In these works, you see images that are true and fictional.

Concerning the style of my works, I believe in maintaining a beautiful feeling in the framing of the image, including composition, line, density and its framing, all the elements regularly contained in painting. I think a good art work is composed of many elements, and it should reflect the knowledge and the skill of the artist. A good art work has intelligence.

The flexibility of photography provides a big expressive space for me, I can work with it in many ways in making my creations.

Solo Exhibition

2022 · YAOLU SOLO EXHIBITION
Sabanci University Fass Art Gallery Istanbul, Turkey
2013 · YAOLU SOLO EXHIBITION
Hayward Fine Art, Brisbane, Australia
2011 · YAOLU’s NEW LANDSCAPES
Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Istanbul, Turkey
2009 · YAOLU‘S NEW LANDSCAPE
Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York, USA
2008 · CONCEALMENT AND RESTRUCTURING
YaoLu’s New Mountains and Waters
798 Photogallery Beijing, China

Group Exhibition

2019 · LANDSCAPING —— Contemporary Photography Exhibition
Museum of Contemporary Art,ChuangZhou City, China
2018 · BACKLIGHT —— CHINESE CONTEMPORARY
LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION
Chengdu City,China
· 《TRADITION IS THE POWER FOR INVENATION — CAFA Centennial Works of Teacher Exhibition》
The Prince's School of Traditional Arts, London, United Kingdom
· ART OF THE MOUNTAIN—Through The Chinese Photographer‘s Lens
China Institute Gallery New York USA
2017 · BORN IN THE 60`S CHINA CONTEPORARY
ART EXHIBITION &INVITATIONAL EXHIBITION
FOR SWEDISH ARTISTS
China Cultural center in Stockholm
2016 · SPANNING TIME:CONTEMPORARY CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHY
The University of Hong Kong,HongKong
2015 · THE FIRST EDITION OF CHANGJIANG INTERNATIONAL IMAGE
BIENNALE—Special Exhibition
Chang Jiang Museum of Contemporary Art Chong Qing, China
· THE PERSISTENCE OF IMAGES — Chinese Contemporary
Photographic Exhibition Yao Lu & Hong Hao
Guang Zhou China
2014 · 2014 LIANZHOUFOTO FESTIVAL—STAGING ENCOUNTERS,
(Ten Years of Contemporary Photography in China), Lian Zhou China
· THE AIPAD PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW, New York USA