lü houmin was allowed (by mao) to travel to cuba to receive an award for his photography and to attend the opening ceremony for the "film show of world people against imperialists". in 1965, he became team leader of the photography department of the xinhua news agency, jiangsu branch. in 1979, he was appointed as the fourth national literary federation committee member, and executive director and vice executive secretary of the chinese photographers society. in 1985, lü was the permanent secretary of the secretariat of chinese photographers society. he was also the vice president of the china literary federation and the chinese photographers society. he was an honorary member of the china federation of literary and art circles, fifth vice-chairman, and the sixth and seventh consultant, of the china photographers association. his works have been shown in domestic and foreign photo exhibitions, and published in newspapers and magazines. he has held many solo exhibitions in beijing, tokyo, and new york city. he published four picture albums: "chairman's elegant demeanor", "mao zedong", "public servant", and "long journey of split of time". lü houmin’s work was represented on the sariwon street of hamhung in 1958. in 1961, he won the silver medal in the german international photography exhibition and the gold medal in the soviet union international photography exhibition. lü described his period of working with mao as the golden time in his life. he is regarded as one of the best photographers of mao zedong, along with xu xiaobing and hou bo.