Legendary and internationally acclaimed Indian photographer Raghu Rai died on Sunday in New Delhi at the age of 83. Referring to his relatives, AFP reported about it, according to which Rai succumbed to cancer writes TASR.
His most famous work is a set of photographs from the 1984 chemical disaster in Bhopal, India – he won the World Press Photo award for the photograph of the funeral of an unknown child. His portraits of the Indian political and social elite are also well known. Intimate portraits of the Catholic nun Mother Teresa have an important place in his work.
Rai worked all his life only in India, where he also photographed ordinary people and their everyday life. “He didn’t just take photos, he preserved the memory of our nation,” said Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi. Rai was a member of the Magnum Photo agency, where he was introduced by the French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, who is considered the founder of modern photojournalism.
Your photos Rai published in prestigious world newspapers and magazines such as Time, Life, GEO, New York Times, Sunday Times, Newsweek, Independent and New Yorker. He is the author of approximately 20 photography books and his exhibitions were held in many capitals of the world. One of them was in Prague Castle in 2004, and Václav Havel took over its patronage.
Rai became a photographer in 1965 and from 1966 he worked for the leading Indian newspaper The Statesman. Since 1976 he has been a freelance photographer. From 1982-92, he was the photo editor of India Today magazine. He was the recipient of India’s highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, and in 2017 he also received India’s National Photography Award for his lifetime achievement.
