Before his bold step to create the independent platform, Lu had gone through years of hardships－evolving from a struggling beipiao (immigrant in Beijing) to a vanguard photographer.
For three successive years, he failed the entrance exam for an art college near his native Zhangzhou, in East China's Fujian province.
He turned to photography for comfort and was deeply captivated by the images produced by a camera. That for him became the perfect bridge to connect with the larger world.
He first came to Beijing in 1992, attending photography courses. His residence in suburban Dongcun Village, an artists' compound, enabled him to befriend many avant-garde artists.
His snapshots recording their lives formed the first body of his experimental works that made people from the art community notice him.
Four years later he moved to Liulitun, another village in Beijing, where he worked until it was demolished for urban renovation in 2003. It is now a compound of high-rise buildings.
There, he clicked many photos exploring the city's reconstruction and the influences of the transforming landscape on its residents.
His works－many in black and white, with him and Inri as the models－present a sense of beauty and peace in a changing environment.
"Liulitun was a haven of freedom for me," he says. "If it hadn't been demolished, I would still be living there."
He used to live in a courtyard house isolated from the fast pace of the city.
Both the Dongcun Village and Liulitun series will be featured in the London show.
The exhibition will also display the latest works from his acclaimed Tsumari Story series, an ongoing project that is considered a turning point in his life.
The series were produced when he and Inri first participated in the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale in 2012. Among Japan's largest art events, the festival, which began in 2000, is held every three years.
When Lu first arrived in Niigata, the Japanese prefecture that hosts the festival, he was overwhelmed by the area's tranquility and people's intimacy with nature. It made him feel familiar as he had grown up in a village surrounded by mountains, but whose appearance has changed due to industrialization.
The artist couple and their three children modeled for the photos that merged with Niigata's scenic backdrop.
"I felt like I could talk to the land and the sky. The experience was a surprise gift for us."
Having handed over daily operations of Three Shadows to younger colleagues in Beijing, he and the family relocated to Japan in 2013, and he has since developed his Tsumari Story series.
"It was time for my team to also independently manage the center."
More importantly, Lu says he seldom found the time to take pictures himself when he was busy with Three Shadows.
Last year, the center opened a branch in Xiamen, in Fujian province, where a monthlong photo event was introduced in partnership with the annual Arles Photography Festival.
"I'm an explorer of art. I just need to be get back in touch with the younger me who knew little about photography but always wanted to be a photographer－and restart," he adds philosophically.
If you go
Three Shadows Photography Award and Exhibition
10 am-6 pm, closed on Mondays, through June 3. 155A Caochangdi, Chaoyang district, Beijing.
010-6432-2663.
