Photographer Raghu Rai

The renowned Indian photographer Raghu Rai, is one of the foremost chroniclers of changing India. Over a career spanning five decades, he has been witness to some of the most significant events in his country’s recent history.  With a Padamshree and a World Press Award to his name, Rai has published around 50 photo books till date and has showcased his photographs at several photo-exhibitions in India and abroad. He is known for his photo books, Raghu Rai’s India: Reflections in Colour and Reflections in Black and White.
He was a protégé of Henri Cartier-Bresson, who appointed Rai, then a young photojournalist, to Magnum Photos in 1977. Rai became a photographer in 1965, and a year later joined the staff of The Statesman, New Delhi. In 1976, he left the paper and became a freelance photographer. From 1982 until 1992, Rai was the director of photography for India Today. He has served on the jury for World Press Photo from 1990 to 1997.  His images are famed for capturing both his country’s brutality and its beauty, often within a single frame. He was one of the first photographers on the scene after the 1984 Bhopal industrial disaster and has produced acclaimed documentary series on Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama and the late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.