SHANGHAI, Oct. 19 -- MORE than 50 black and white photographs taken along the Suzhou Creek in the early 1990s by Lu Yuanmin, a pioneer of China's documentary photography, brought back memories yesterday.

The black and white Suzhou Creek photo show opened yesterday at the cultural activity center of Caoyang Road community in Putuo District and will run till November 18.

Lu Yuanmin, whose photographs provide a special archive of the city's history, said he did not plan to shoot a series about Suzhou Creek at first.

Born in 1950 in Shanghai, Lu began taking photographs in 1976.

"In the early 1990s, I rode a bicycle from home in Xuhui District to my office in Putuo District Cultural Center, and I passed Suzhou Creek every day," he recalled.

"At that time many changes were taking place in the city but around the creek time seemed to be frozen, and the unchanged scenes immediately aroused my childhood memories," said Lu, who then began compiling experiences of Suzhou Creek in 1992 and 1993.

Lu shot every aspect of the creek in black and white - "I enjoy the procedure of developing film and black and white fits with my memories of Suzhou Creek."

Unexpectedly, after Lu had taken the pictures, Suzhou Creek began to undergo a major transformation. The houses and factories in the photographs have disappeared, with fashionable modern buildings and residential complexes filling their places.

The scenes in Lu's photos are intriguing many older visitors who have also witnessed the changes along the creek.

Fu Xuegong, 58, pointed to a picture featuring charcoal cookers. "In those days most residents still used charcoal to cook," he said.

"But in the late 1990s, most people began to use gas so the charcoal is rarely seen nowadays. These photos remind me of days gone past," Fu said.