Photographers

Raghu Rai (born 1942 in Jhang, British India) is one of India’s most celebrated photographers and a leading figure in international photojournalism. Initially trained as a civil engineer, he began photographing in 1965 and soon joined *The Statesman* newspaper as chief photographer. In 1971, Henri Cartier‑Bresson, impressed by Rai’s exhibition in Paris, nominated him for Magnum Photos — a pivotal endorsement that helped cement Rai’s global stature. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he served as picture editor for *Sunday* magazine and later for *India Today*, where he produced groundbreaking essays on politics, culture, and social realities during India’s transformative decades.

Rai’s photographic practice is deeply rooted in documenting India with emotional depth, visual precision, and a strong humanist sensibility. He has produced more than 50 books covering subjects as wide‑ranging as Delhi, Calcutta, Khajuraho, the Sikhs, Tibetan exile communities, Indian wildlife, Mother Teresa, and the country’s spiritual and cultural landscape. His commitment to long‑form documentary work includes his noted coverage of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster, which resulted in landmark exhibitions and the book *Exposure: A Corporate Crime*.

A recipient of India’s prestigious Padma Shri (1972), Rai has also been honored globally — including the Officier des Arts et des Lettres (2009) from France and the “Photographer of the Year” award in the United States (1992) for his National Geographic story on wildlife management. His work has appeared in *Time*, *Life*, *GEO*, *Le Monde*, *The New Yorker*, *The New York Times*, *The Sunday Times*, and many others. He has served multiple times on the World Press Photo and UNESCO juries. Today he continues to work from New Delhi and remains a central voice in South Asian visual culture, actively producing new books and exhibitions that span more than six decades of photographic practice.