Lu Nan

http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=2K1HZOQAINHLCT

Lu Nan, a photographer from Beijing, who takes black and white photos of underground China. He is famous for three series done about drugs, mental illness, and Catholics. It may seem strange to see Catholics in the list with drugs, and mental illness but, in China religion is not a freedom for most and those who try to freely worship are persecuted and thrown in jail just like someone who is caught using drugs. Similarly in Asia laws about drug use and trafficking are much more strict. The black and white photos help clearly show emotion. They seem to be more raw and dramatic with the contrast. The first photo is a father injecting heroin and a mother feeding her three year old a mixture of sugar water and heroin they have been giving her the mixture since birth. The second photo shows mass being held in a house privately to avoid being persecuted by the government. The final photo is of a mental patient in quarantine because he contracted tuberculosis they stop giving treatment to patients once they contract an actual illness in the mental institutions and just let nature take their lives naturally. Photographers can have lots of influence and help people in similar conditions by showing the world what is really going on.