A visual historian, a lens on India’s truths and contradictions: Raghu Rai

By Harsh Thakor* 

Raghu Rai, hailed as the “father of Indian photojournalism,” passed away at the age of 83 at a New Delhi hospital after battling cancer that had spread to his brain. His career, spanning over half a century, chronicled indelible images of India’s political leaders, spiritual icons, and everyday life. Rai’s family confirmed his death and announced that his funeral would take place at Lodhi Crematorium, marking the end of an era in Indian visual culture.

Rai spent more than six decades focusing his lens on the subcontinent’s joys, tragedies, and contradictions with an intensity few could match. He was the man who defined Indian photojournalism for half a century, whose pictures often conveyed more than a thousand words ever could, especially his classic images of Indira Gandhi. Raghu Rai did not merely photograph India; he explored and analysed it with patience, rigour and empathy. His camera traversed power, poverty, faith, tragedy, politics, streets, silence and human faces without turning them into spectacle or melodrama, transcending conventional boundaries.

Born on 18 December 1942 in undivided Punjab, Rai was trained as a civil engineer before being introduced to photography by his brother, photographer S. Paul, during a professional break. His entry into photography was partly a stroke of luck: his first published image—a photograph of a donkey looking directly into the lens—appeared in The Times of London after impressing his brother.

Raghu Rai began his photographic journey in the 1960s and joined The Statesman as a chief photographer. He later worked with Sunday and India Today, shaping the visual language of Indian journalism at a time when the printed image carried weight, risk and memory.

Nominated to Magnum Photos by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Rai became one of the rare Indian photographers whose work embodied the global documentary tradition while remaining distinctly Indian in instinct.

He photographed Indira Gandhi, Mother Teresa, the Bangladesh war, the Bhopal gas tragedy, Delhi, Calcutta, Kashmir, the Taj Mahal, the Dalai Lama, and countless unnamed Indians who defined the country’s visual memory through his lens. His frames were never decorative or glamorous.

A Padma Shri awardee, Raghu Rai produced a vast body of work across books, exhibitions, photo essays and archives. However, his true legacy lay in giving India one of its most honest mirrors.

Rai worked with the weekly Sunday, which emerged as a leading news-commentary magazine in the post-Emergency democratic phase from 1977 to 1982, publishing distinctive photo essays and visual narratives. He later joined India Today, where he documented major political and social developments in the country.

Several leading magazines and newspapers across the world carried Rai’s photo essays, including Time, Life, GEO, Le Figaro, Le Monde, Die Welt, The New York Times, Newsweek, Vogue, GQ, D magazine, Marie Claire, The Independent and The New Yorker.

Politician and former diplomat Shashi Tharoor said he was “deeply saddened” by Rai’s death, calling him “one of the world’s finest visual storytellers.” Recalling a personal connection from his childhood, when Rai worked with his father at The Statesman, he said the photographer was not just a global figure but “the man with the gentle smile and the observant eye.”

Rai was awarded the Padma Shri in 1972 for his coverage of the Bangladesh war and its aftermath. He also received the Photographer of the Year award in the United States for his photo essay “Human Management of Wildlife in India,” published in National Geographic. The French government conferred on him the Officier des Arts et des Lettres in 2009.

Among Rai’s most powerful images is his photograph from the aftermath of the Bhopal disaster, a toxic gas leak that killed thousands. The image, showing the face of a child partially buried in the earth with eyes closed in death, became one of the most defining representations of the tragedy, capturing both its magnitude and its human cost.

Rai’s archive stands as a visual biography of modern India, from intimate portraits of Indira Gandhi and Mother Teresa to documenting the Beatles’ visit to India. His work transcended conventional photojournalism, offering layered narratives of history and humanity.

Orator Joy Bhattacharjya shared one of Rai’s photographs of Indira Gandhi, saying India had lost “its finest visual chronicler.” “Rest in peace, Raghu Rai sir — nobody captured the India in which we grew up better than you. This is just one of the many stunning images you bequeathed us,” he wrote.

Historian William Dalrymple, who described Rai as a friend and mentor, said he was “not just India’s greatest photographer but also one of its most beloved, generous and wonderful men.” “His book on Delhi was the first I ever bought about the city, and it was he who first taught me how to look at it and pin it to paper,” he said. “Later, he became the kindest of friends. I adored him — his warmth, energy and wild enthusiasm. Om Shanti… he will be much, much missed.”

The Press Club of India, of which Rai was a member, said he leaves behind an indelible body of work spanning decades that will continue to be celebrated. “His commitment and contribution to his craft will be remembered with deep respect. At this juncture, we extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and colleagues,” it said.

Rai mentored younger photographers and made Indian narratives accessible to a global audience. He fused documentary precision with artistic sensibility, inspiring generations in the field.

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Freelance journalist