Experts in the field of photography, filmmaking and academia have paid homage to Raghu Rai, a name synonymous with capturing much of post-independent India in his lens. The ace photographer passed away in the national capital on April 26, 2026. He was 83.
"With a monumental body of work to his credit and an influence over generations of photographers that followed, Raghu Rai will always be remembered as a master storyteller and poet in his ability to capture quieter and more reflective moments within the cluttered mise en scene of the public world. He brought poetry to photography," noted academic and filmmaker Sabeena Gadihoke, who teaches at Jamia Millia Islamia in the national capital, told Down To Earth (DTE).
"His death is a shock to me," Dhritiman Mukherjee, one of India's noted wildlife photographers told DTE. "I started photography in 1997. I first met him in 2006. It was a fanboy moment for me and I was shy. But by 2018-19, we had come close. He was still energetic and used to do photography every now and then despite his age. That is something very inspiring."
Noted filmmaker and photographer Vijay Bedi, who comes from a well-known family of photographers, attended Rai's funeral at the Lodhi Road Crematorium in New Delhi. "My entire family — my grandfather, father, uncle, brother and I — have been very appreciative of Raghu Rai's work over decades. His passing is the end of an era in Indian photography."
Each of the experts pointed out unique traits and abilities that made Rai's photos stand out in post-independent India.
Interestingly, Rai, a child of the Partition (born in Jhang in what is today's Punjab province in Pakistan) did not start out as a photographer. He studied to be a civil engineer.
According to Bedi, Rai was fortunate in that he had a mentor in his elder brother, a distinguished photographer himself.
"Most people do not know but S Paul (born Sharampal Chowdhry) was the elder brother and mentor of Rai. Often called the "Cartier-Bresson of India," Paul is considered a pioneer of modern Indian photojournalism," said Bedi.
For Gadihoke, "if the 1950s and 1960s were marked by a photo-journalistic impulse, Raghu Rai who began his career as a press photographer was one of the few who would turn their back on his genre to create the most astounding and lyrical documentary images."
She points out that Rai's repertoire was vast — ranging from travel essays, the chaotic and quieter moments in cities, telling images of well-known public figures like Mother Teresa or Indira Gandhi or photographs of tragedies or disasters such as the Bhopal gas leak and anti-Sikh riots in 1984.
But what really takes the cake in Rai's work, according to Gadihoke, is his quality of capturing quiet moments in the midst of the ephemeral and fleeting nature of daily life. She gives an example.
"I have many personal favourites such as his photograph of a rooftop romance against a monsoon sky in Calcutta or his stunning images of rush-hour Bombay but one image I will always treasure and be grateful to Raghu Rai for capturing is a photograph of a lone woman offering evening prayers in a room against the cityscape near Jama masjid," she told DTE.
According to Mukherjee, there are no good or bad photos. "It is a subjective matter. What really matters is being able to identify the right moment to shoot.
To be able to discern this is a superb craft that is honed with talent, efficiency and skills. Raghu Rai possessed this craft."
He added that if one looks at Rai's photos, they usually tell one big story through many micro stories. "I used to marvel at this ability of Rai, of him creating lovely frames.
They also have stood the test of time and are relevant today as well. And they are unique in the sense someone will find it difficult to recreate them."
Bedi points to Rai's most iconic photograph. "Burial of an Unknown Child" is a haunting image that captures the horror of the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy. "By focusing on a father’s hands brushing dust from his child’s face, Rai created a global symbol of grief that forced the world to confront the human cost of corporate negligence. As Rai himself often said, "an image never lies," and this specific frame stands as an etched, honest mirror reflecting one of the darkest chapters in Indian history," says Bedi.
Would it be fair to say that Rai also heralded the coverage of environmental themes in mainstream Indian photography? "I would not say that. He was a news photographer and it is his portraits and street photography that are most famous. But of course, his photos during the Bhopal Gas Tragedy stood out," said Bedi.
For him, Rai's way of capturing images in frames was unique. "He had a vision behind each photograph of his and he shot it in such a way that it stood out."
Gadihoke revealed that she last met him when she took her students at Jamia Millia Islamia to see his retrospective at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in the capital. "I still remember his grace, dignity and accessibility, ever willing to engage with them and their questions. He will be remembered with gratitude for the legacy of images that he leaves behind that will live forever."
Bedi remembers a personal incident when he was shooting on a bridge over the Ganga in then-Allahabad (today Prayagraj) during the Kumbh Mela in 2003. "I was standing
on a bridge over the Ganga, capturing a group of Naga Sadhus. Suddenly, Rai came and stood beside me. I looked at him in awe. "Don't look at me. Carry on with your work," he told me."
"It is sad that we have lost both these legends of photography, Rai and Paul (who passed away recently). But their legacy lives on in their children. Rai's son Nitin is a distinguished multi-genre photographer. Paul's two sons, Neeraj Paul and Dheeraj Paul, also followed in his footsteps to become prominent photographers themselves," said Bedi.