The Crossbill News Desk
India’s photography and journalism fraternity on Sunday mourned the passing of legendary photojournalist Raghu Rai, whose evocative images chronicled decades of the country’s political, social and cultural transformations. Widely regarded as one of India’s most influential visual storytellers, Rai died at a private hospital in the early hours of Sunday (April 26) at the age of 83.
“Dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago but he was cured. Then it spread to the stomach, that too was cured. Recently, the cancer spread to his brain and then there were age-related issues too,” Nitin Rai, photographer and Rai’s son, told PTI.
He is survived by wife Gurmeet, son Nitin and daughters Lagan, Avani and Purvai. Born on December 18, 1942, in Jhang, Punjab (now in Pakistan), Rai was qualified as a civil engineer and only took up photography at 23 before joining The Statesman newspaper as its chief photographer in 1966.
Life from that point onwards was anything but a blur. Over the next six decades, Rai’s lens froze for posterity fleeting moments with unmatched clarity, documenting a growing India’s socio-political landscape. A protégé of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Rai photographed some of the most defining moments of modern Indian history, including the Bangladesh refugee crisis of 1972 and the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984.
His portraits captured the many dimensions of Indian public life, from political leaders such as Indira Gandhi to spiritual and cultural figures including Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Satyajit Ray, Hariprasad Chaurasia and Bismillah Khan, offering intimate and often unseen perspectives into their lives.
More than headline events, Rai’s photography focused intensely on everyday people and ordinary moments. Working largely in black and white, he elevated routine scenes into timeless visual narratives that reflected the human condition with sensitivity and depth.
Some of his most iconic photographs remain etched in India’s collective memory, including haunting images from the Bhopal disaster and powerful political portraits from the late 1960s.
Over a long and distinguished career, Rai worked with leading Indian magazines Sunday and India Today, while his photo essays appeared in international publications such as Time, Life, The New York Times, The Independent and The New Yorker. He served three times on the jury of the World Press Photo and twice on UNESCO’s International Photo Contest, according to Magnum Photos, which he joined in 1977 upon nomination by Cartier-Bresson.
Rai received the Padma Shri in 1972 for his coverage of the Bangladesh war and its aftermath and won several global honours, including Photographer of the Year in the United States for his National Geographic essay “Human Management of Wildlife in India”.
The French government awarded him the Officier des Arts et des Lettres in 2009. Among his many publications were “Raghu Rai’s India: Reflections in Colour and Reflections in Black and White” and “Exposure: Portrait Of A Corporate Crime”.
He was working on his 57th book, according to the Raghu Rai Foundation, which has archived more than 50,000 of his images.
Tributes poured in from political leaders, artists and journalists across the country. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi credited Rai for preserving “our nation’s memory” and chronicling “the soul of India” its people, its struggles, its joys, and its defining moments” in a post on X.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor shared that his memories of Rai stretch back to childhood, recalling the photographer’s influence on an earlier generation of journalists.
“For me, he wasn’t just a global name; he was the man with the gentle smile and the observant eye who inspired my father’s generation of journalists…,” Tharoor said, adding that his contribution to visual history is unparalleled.
Naveen Patnaik said, "Through his lens, he chronicled the spirit of India, its people and everyday life which will remain etched in our collective memory. His frames were not mere pictures, but living histories. May his legacy inspire generations of storytellers”.
Rai’s last rites will be performed at Lodhi Crematorium at 4 pm on Sunday, bringing to a close the journey of a photographer whose images shaped how generations saw and remembered India.
“Dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago but he was cured. Then it spread to the stomach, that too was cured. Recently, the cancer spread to his brain and then there were age-related issues too,” Nitin Rai, photographer and Rai’s son, told PTI.
He is survived by wife Gurmeet, son Nitin and daughters Lagan, Avani and Purvai. Born on December 18, 1942, in Jhang, Punjab (now in Pakistan), Rai was qualified as a civil engineer and only took up photography at 23 before joining The Statesman newspaper as its chief photographer in 1966.
Life from that point onwards was anything but a blur. Over the next six decades, Rai’s lens froze for posterity fleeting moments with unmatched clarity, documenting a growing India’s socio-political landscape. A protégé of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Rai photographed some of the most defining moments of modern Indian history, including the Bangladesh refugee crisis of 1972 and the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984.
His portraits captured the many dimensions of Indian public life, from political leaders such as Indira Gandhi to spiritual and cultural figures including Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Satyajit Ray, Hariprasad Chaurasia and Bismillah Khan, offering intimate and often unseen perspectives into their lives.
More than headline events, Rai’s photography focused intensely on everyday people and ordinary moments. Working largely in black and white, he elevated routine scenes into timeless visual narratives that reflected the human condition with sensitivity and depth.
Some of his most iconic photographs remain etched in India’s collective memory, including haunting images from the Bhopal disaster and powerful political portraits from the late 1960s.
Over a long and distinguished career, Rai worked with leading Indian magazines Sunday and India Today, while his photo essays appeared in international publications such as Time, Life, The New York Times, The Independent and The New Yorker. He served three times on the jury of the World Press Photo and twice on UNESCO’s International Photo Contest, according to Magnum Photos, which he joined in 1977 upon nomination by Cartier-Bresson.
Rai received the Padma Shri in 1972 for his coverage of the Bangladesh war and its aftermath and won several global honours, including Photographer of the Year in the United States for his National Geographic essay “Human Management of Wildlife in India”.
The French government awarded him the Officier des Arts et des Lettres in 2009. Among his many publications were “Raghu Rai’s India: Reflections in Colour and Reflections in Black and White” and “Exposure: Portrait Of A Corporate Crime”.
He was working on his 57th book, according to the Raghu Rai Foundation, which has archived more than 50,000 of his images.
Tributes poured in from political leaders, artists and journalists across the country. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi credited Rai for preserving “our nation’s memory” and chronicling “the soul of India” its people, its struggles, its joys, and its defining moments” in a post on X.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor shared that his memories of Rai stretch back to childhood, recalling the photographer’s influence on an earlier generation of journalists.
“For me, he wasn’t just a global name; he was the man with the gentle smile and the observant eye who inspired my father’s generation of journalists…,” Tharoor said, adding that his contribution to visual history is unparalleled.
Naveen Patnaik said, "Through his lens, he chronicled the spirit of India, its people and everyday life which will remain etched in our collective memory. His frames were not mere pictures, but living histories. May his legacy inspire generations of storytellers”.
Rai’s last rites will be performed at Lodhi Crematorium at 4 pm on Sunday, bringing to a close the journey of a photographer whose images shaped how generations saw and remembered India.
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