Renowned Indian Photographer Raghu Rai Passes Away at Age 83

Renowned Photographer Raghu Rai Passes Away at 83

Raghu Rai, a celebrated photographer and Magnum Photos icon, has passed away at the age of 83. The news was announced by his family on Sunday in a statement, paying tribute to their “beloved”. Born in a village in what is now Pakistan’s Punjab province before the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent, Rai worked as a construction engineer before transitioning into photography.

Throughout his career, Rai documented various significant events and social phenomena in India, including the 1971 independence war of Bangladesh and the 1984 gas leak in Bhopal that resulted in an estimated 25,000 fatalities. His photographs from Bhopal are widely regarded as defining visual records of one of India’s worst industrial disasters.

Rai received several notable awards for his work, including the Padma Shri in 1972, one of India’s highest civilian honours. He also won the inaugural Academie des Beaux-Arts Photography Award and was a member of Magnum Photos, a prestigious cooperative founded by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Rai published numerous photo-books, including works on Indian culture, politics, and society. His portraits of notable figures, such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa, are highly regarded. Rai’s work spanned various formats, including film and digital photography, in both black and white and colour.

The news of Rai’s passing has been met with tributes from prominent figures, including Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor. According to the Indian Express newspaper, Rai was introduced to photography by his photographer brother six decades ago and began publishing his work in The Times of London before transitioning into photojournalism.

Source: Al Jazeera