lü houmin (simplified chinese 吕厚民; 9 september 1928 – 9 march 2015) was a chinese photographer who gained national and international recognition for taking official photographs of chinese leaders, most notably mao zedong, from 1950 to 1964. lü started out as a teacher, and later switched to photography. he was called mao's private photographer because many of his photographs were different from the official ones, showing mao in a more relaxed and personal manner.