“Is this entirely written by you?” Raghu Rai asked a 21-year-old me back in 2017 when I was interning for his photography magazine, Creative Image. It was asked part seriously and part with astonishment. “Yes, sir…”, I said, perplexed.
As I stepped out of his office and came to my desk at the Delhi office located at the Ambawatta Complex, Mehrauli, I kept re-reading my article on Gond artist Jangarh Singh Shyam.
Was there a mistake? Was it not worthy of publishing? A train of thought was running in my overthinking mind, stopped only when his daughter and Creative Director of the magazine Purvai Rai said, “Amongst the six interns, you’re selected to write for the print magazine on ‘Travel Issue’ {Vol 3. Issue 1, January-February 2018}.” For a fresh-out-of-college English literature graduate, looking for exposure in journalism, I jumped with joy at the opportunity and was even offered a full-time role!
In an age when words cease to matter in the face of AI, and writers are expected to churn out quick copies, almost mechanically, in a highly competitive media landscape, the Editor in Raghu Rai was quite different.
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He encouraged creative thought, expression and was ready to listen! To not just words, but the feelings they evoke, the pictures they create in the reader’s mind and their power to transport one to many worlds. In fact, he would search for ‘soul’ in words, just like he would with his frames.
In a career spanning more than six decades, Rai chronicled India’s many realities with rare sensitivity. From documenting the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, the Bangladesh Liberation War to capturing intimate moments of prominent figures across film, politics and culture, such as Indira Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Satyajit Ray, and the 14th Dalai Lama, his photographs capture the most defining visual narratives of India.
They go beyond mere topicality, subjects and objects. Instead, his photos put identity, culture, societal issues and the complexities of a nation in flux, all in context, holding true to what he once said, “a creative photographer is one who either captures mystery or reveals things, everything else is useless. Raghu Rai.”
As the legendary photographer breathed his last on April 26, at 83, following a two-year battle with cancer, he leaves behind a legacy as India’s most celebrated photographer. His work stands as a reminder: photography is not just about what meets the eye but about what stirs within. Here’s a look at Raghu Rai’s best photographs that show why he’s the ‘Father of Indian Photojournalism’.
