Born in 1942, Zhaotong County, Yunnan Province. Wu Jialin 吴家林 states in his biography that he was "born to a bankrupt family of literati." The photographs of this dedicated artist illustrate the varied landscape of such a geographically challenged country. His rich images of life in the Yunnan Province portray the ethnically diverse people living in an environment that has been isolated from outside influence.
Though his work had been mostly unknown to the West, he gained prominence through the efforts of many. Most notable was the International Biennial photography festival in Houston, FotoFest, in 1996 where he had his first exhibition outside Asia. At the same time, Magnum photographer Marc Riboud (noted as the father of Chinese photojournalism) promoted Wu Jialin's work and wrote an essay for his book, Surprises.

Additional honors include the 1997 Mother Jones Award for Documentary Photography and inclusion in an exhibition in 1997 at the International Center for Photography Museum (ICP) in New York. He was also selected by Henri Cartier-Bresson for the Le Choix d'Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibition and catalogue in 1999.