Photographer Raghu Rai dies at 83

Photographer Raghu Rai has died, his family said on Sunday. He was 83.

Considered a protégé of French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, Rai became a photographer in the 1960s and worked for The Statesman in Delhi and India Today magazine before freelancing.

He was also a jury for the World Press Photo contest between 1990 and 1997.

Rai published more than a dozen photo books, including on former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Mother Teresa, the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, the Taj Mahal and Bangladesh.

He was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, in 1972.

In pictures:

• Thirty years later, photographer Raghu Rai returns to site of his iconic Bhopal images
• Capturing the moments of a movement: Raghu Rai’s chronicle of JP and the Bihar students agitation
• Raghu Rai’s five-decade career captures the essence of India
• ‘I can never be true to my experiences without a camera’: Raghu Rai

Rest in peace to the greatest documentary photographer out of the subcontinent Raghu Rai. Just a beautiful way of seeing https://t.co/8SaGhHlBUU pic.twitter.com/8PrfMdvrvC— yogi (@DJpastawater) April 25, 2026

Masses are other people.
-Raymond Williams

Raghu Rai 2010 (Mumbai-Where Dreams Don’t Die) pic.twitter.com/saJc9njpP7— Andrea Alba (@blanc_alba) May 9, 2025

Mother Teresa descending the stairs, photographed by Raghu Rai, Kolkata, India, 1970.#MotherTeresa #RaghuRai #Calcutta1970 #Photography #HumanitarianLegacy #TimelessMoments #IconicImages #CompassionInAction #HistoricalPortraits #FaithAndService pic.twitter.com/GmkUQbgS9B— JF AGER. ?? & ?? United by shared values. (@jager1108) May 5, 2025

Kashti-e-ziist khe rahe haiñ "Atash",
Bahr kaar-e-muhaal meiñ gum haiñ #KhwajaReazuddin_Atash
P. C : Raghu Rai pic.twitter.com/ExKJdMArmJ— Munaf (@Munaf_Ali) April 25, 2026

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