27 November 2018

Internationally renowned Chinese documentary photographer Lu Guang has gone missing while on a trip to Xinjiang, his wife [Xu Xiao] said…Lu’s family last heard from him while he was in the regional capital of Urumqi on the evening of November 3…

…[Lu’s] work reflected his strong views about industrialisation and damage done to the environment…Since 1993, he has worked in documentary photography, recording the effects of environmental pollution, poverty, Aids villages, and drug addiction in a rapidly industrialising China. From 2004, Lu won many international awards, including the World Press Photo…He has also won the highest domestic award, the China Photography Awards.

Xu said her husband flew to Urumqi on October 23 and travelled to Kashgar in southern Xinjiang on October 31 before returning to Urumqi on November 3. She said she had kept in contact with him throughout his trip…

Xu learned from the government of Yongkang, in Zhejiang province where Lu’s household registration is located, that Lu was detained by Kashgar police. There were no more details, officials in Yongkang said.

Police in Yongkang said they knew nothing of Lu’s detention, while Kashgar police could not be reached for comment.