SHENZHEN, April 28 (Xinhua) -- The southern Chinese city of Shenzhen on Saturday opened a one-month exhibition of photos by Marc Riboud, one of the first European photographers to visit the People's Republic of China after its founding in 1949.

The exhibition "La Chine de Marc Riboud" featuring 36 works by the late French photographer is being held at Luohu Art Museum.

Riboud is best known for his extensive reports on China and Asia. Between 1957 and 2010, he traveled to China over 20 times, using cameras to capture the enormous and dynamic changes in China. Shenzhen, a pioneer in China's reform and opening-up, has figured prominently in Riboud's China photos.

Riboud took his first pictures at the age of 14 using a small vest pocket Kodak that his father gave him on his birthday. Studying engineering, he switched to photo journalism at 30 and became in 1976 the president of Magnum agency, an international photographic cooperative.

Riboud received many awards, including Lifetime Achievement Award at the Sony World Photography Awards in 2009. He died from a long disease in 2016 at the age of 93.

A number of French-themed exhibitions and festive activities have been scheduled in China for this year, which marks the 55th anniversary of China-France diplomatic ties.