Lu Zhirong, founder of Three Shadows art center. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Lu, 48, aka Rong Rong, tells China Daily: "The up-and-coming forces (of Chinese photography) have mushroomed. It amazes me. Almost a decade has passed since the art center was created, and I'm grateful that more people now identify with our efforts."

For their persistence in promoting the diversity of Chinese photography, Lu and his Japanese wife, who is also a photographer, will be honored by the World Photography Organization with an outstanding contribution award on Thursday in London.

An exhibition will show their works at London's neoclassical building Somerset House, from Friday to May 8.

In a statement, Christopher Phillips, a curator at New York-based International Center of Photography, says: "Three Shadows has done more to encourage the serious appreciation of photography than any other organization in China."

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.