Premium

Legend behind the lens & ‘explorer of life’, Raghu Rai dies at 83

One of the most prolific visual chroniclers of contemporary India, he instilled life into every photograph that he took

5 min readUpdated: Apr 27, 2026 02:52 PM IST

Raghu Rai was a renowned photographer and photojournalist./ (File Photo)

Raghu Rai’s foray into photography was rather fortuitous. A civil engineer who was on a professional break, it was during a visit to his elder brother, photographer S Paul, in Delhi in the early 1960s that Rai was introduced to the nuances of the medium. Accompanying a friend to a village in Haryana, he took what was among his first photographs: a donkey gazing straight into the camera. Impressed by the image, Paul sent it to The Times in London, where it was published, earning Rai not just prize money but more significantly also a career in photography that was to stay with him until he passed away in Delhi on Sunday. He was 83 and had been suffering from cancer.

Tenacious, observant and deeply curious, born in Jhang (Pakistan), Rai instilled life into every photograph that he took and captured the pulse of the nation. “More than a professional photographer, I became an explorer of life,” he said in an interview to The Indian Express in 2024. Though that life has now ended, the moments he recorded will remain forever in the form of his rich archive that spans from photojournalism to documentation and portraits of some of the most recognised figures from across different fields, politics to culture.

“Some artists transcend art categories and labels and are extraordinary in the way they gather and live through the breadth of their experiences. I don’t think India was explored any better or as expansively as by Raghu Rai, who was sharp and deeply incisive, and empathetic, always on the move and slept with a loaded camera next to him. Not a mere witness, the intensity with which he would seek was absolutely infectious and inspiring,” says Roobina Karode, Artistic Director and Chief Curator at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), who curated his 2024 exhibition Raghu Rai: A Thousand Lives at KNMA with Devika Daulet Singh.

In 1977, Raghu Rai became the country’s first photographer to be invited to join Magnum Photos upon the nomination by legendary French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson

One of India’s foremost photojournalists, the 1972 Padma Shri awardee also recorded a spectrum of the country’s history, including photographs of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in Amritsar’s Golden Temple complex shortly before Operation Blue Star in 1984, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, the poignant plight of the refugees during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 and the crackdown during the Emergency years.

In 1977, Rai became the first Indian photographer to be invited to join Magnum Photos upon nomination by legendary French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, who had reportedly seen his photographs at an exhibition in Paris in 1971. The latter’s humanist approach echoed in Rai’s own practice, including his frames of the rhythms of Old Delhi and the serene ghats of Ganga, landscapes across terrains and the Mahakumbh.

Also Read | Raghu Rai on the symbolic photo that told the story of the Emergency

Also testament to his inclination to introspect and archive are his several exhibitions and over 40 books, including A Day in the Life of India, Picturing Time: The Greatest Photographs of Raghu Rai, My Land and Its People, The Album: Friends and Family and Tibet in Exile. His People: His Finest Portraits brought together the little known and the well-recognised, including former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and Satyajit Ray.

Indira Gandhi in her dinning room, Delhi 1971 (Credit: Raghu Rai & PHOTOINK)

Pramod Kapoor, founder and publisher of Roli Books who developed a close friendship with Rai after he published his book The Sikhs (NOT FIRST) in 1983, says, “He was a perfectionist and a genius who knew what commanded attention. Fiercely critical of his own work, he would discard several of his images and shared only the best. Photography was his life’s joy. Accompanying him on several shoots, I remember his impromptu singing, including songs of Kumar Gandharva, whom he deeply admired.”

Story continues below this ad

Rajeev Lochan, artist and former director of National Gallery of Modern Art, who presented his 2008 retrospective at the institution, recalls, “Bohemian on one side, serious on the end, he held a passion for life in every respect.”

Mother Teresa at her home, 1970s (Credit: Raghu Rai & PHOTOINK)

Rai’s work also inspired generations of photographers. Having closely followed his work for over 40 years, photographer Rohit Chawla says, “Raghu Rai didn’t just photograph India, he expanded its visual vocabulary. At a time when most were content recording events, he was constructing meaning within the frame layering foreground, edge, and accident into something far more enduring than reportage. What set him apart wasn’t access or subject, but intent. He could be dismissive, even impatient with mediocrity, but that came from a fierce clarity about what photography demanded. With Raghu, the image was never casual, it was earned. And in that rigour, he quietly set the benchmark for generations who followed.”

Even in his later years, Rai continued to photograph with the same devotion that marked his foray onto becoming one of the most prolific visual chroniclers of contemporary India. “Extremely curious, he was a brilliant storyteller whose zeal for photography continued till the very end,” says Karode of KNMA.

Vandana Kalra

Vandana Kalra is an art critic and Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. She has spent more than two decades chronicling arts, culture and everyday life, with modern and contemporary art at the heart of her practice. With a sustained engagement in the arts and a deep understanding of India’s cultural ecosystem, she is regarded as a distinctive and authoritative voice in contemporary art journalism in India. Vandana Kalra's career has unfolded in step with the shifting contours of India’s cultural landscape, from the rise of the Indian art market to the growing prominence of global biennales and fairs. Closely tracking its ebbs and surges, she reports from studios, galleries, museums and exhibition spaces and has covered major Indian and international art fairs, museum exhibitions and biennales, including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Documenta, Islamic Arts Biennale. She has also been invited to cover landmark moments in modern Indian art, including SH Raza’s exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the opening of the MF Husain Museum in Doha, reflecting her long engagement with the legacies of India’s modern masters. Alongside her writing, she applies a keen editorial sensibility, shaping and editing art and cultural coverage into informed, cohesive narratives. Through incisive features, interviews and critical reviews, she brings clarity to complex artistic conversations, foregrounding questions of process, patronage, craft, identity and cultural memory. The Global Art Circuit: She provides extensive coverage of major events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival, and high-profile international auctions. Artist Spotlights: She writes in-depth features on modern masters (like M.F. Husain) and contemporary performance artists (like Marina Abramović). Art and Labor: A recurring theme in her writing is how art reflects the lives of the marginalized, including migrants, farmers, and labourers. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent portfolio is dominated by the coverage of the 2025 art season in India: 1. Kochi-Muziris Biennale & Serendipity Arts Festival "At Serendipity Arts Festival, a 'Shark Tank' of sorts for art and crafts startups" (Dec 20, 2025): On how a new incubator is helping artisans pitch products to investors. "Artist Birender Yadav's work gives voice to the migrant self" (Dec 17, 2025): A profile of an artist whose decade-long practice focuses on brick kiln workers. "At Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a farmer’s son from Patiala uses his art to draw attention to Delhi’s polluted air" (Dec 16, 2025). "Kochi Biennale showstopper Marina Abramović, a pioneer in performance art" (Dec 7, 2025): An interview with the world-renowned artist on the power of reinvention. 2. M.F. Husain & Modernism "Inside the new MF Husain Museum in Qatar" (Nov 29, 2025): A three-part series on the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam in Doha, exploring how a 2008 sketch became the architectural core of the museum. "Doha opens Lawh Wa Qalam: Celebrating the modernist's global legacy" (Nov 29, 2025). 3. Art Market & Records "Frida Kahlo sets record for the most expensive work by a female artist" (Nov 21, 2025): On Kahlo's canvas The Dream (The Bed) selling for $54.7 million. "All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork" (Nov 19, 2025). "What’s special about a $12.1 million gold toilet?" (Nov 19, 2025): A quirky look at a flushable 18-karat gold artwork. 4. Art Education & History "Art as play: How process-driven activities are changing the way children learn art in India" (Nov 23, 2025). "A glimpse of Goa's layered history at Serendipity Arts Festival" (Dec 9, 2025): Exploring historical landmarks as venues for contemporary art. Signature Beats Vandana is known for her investigative approach to the art economy, having recently written about "Who funds the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?" (Dec 11, 2025), detailing the role of "Platinum Benefactors." She also explores the spiritual and geometric aspects of art, as seen in her retrospective on artist Akkitham Narayanan and the history of the Cholamandal Artists' Village (Nov 22, 2025). ... Read More

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Tags:
Raghu Rai

Loading Recommendations...

May 09: Latest News

Live Blog