lü started working as the official photographer for the chinese government in 1950. he was assigned to take pictures in zhongnanhai of the main chinese leaders of that time including chairman mao zedong, premier zhou enlai and president liu shaoqi. from 1950 to 1957, he worked in the photography section of the central garrison bureau in the general office of the central committee of the communist party of china and was hired by the xinhua news agency in 1958. lü continued taking pictures from 1950 to 1964. lü had to be always ready to take the correct image; in a 2008 interview with the south china morning post in hong kong, he said, "you had to have your camera ready at all times, when the time came you could not doubt for a second, then the leaders would not hold the pose for you".