Veteran photographer Raghu Rai passes away at the age of 83

April 26, 2026

Raghu Rai, a renowned photographer and Padma Shri recipient, died on Sunday at the age of 83 in a private hospital in Delhi. His son and photographer, Nitin Rai, said he had been battling cancer for the past two years.

He said, “Papa had prostate cancer two years ago, which was cured. Then the cancer spread to his stomach, which also recovered. Recently, the cancer spread to his brain, along with age-related complications.”

His photography journey began in the 1960s

Raghu Rai was born in 1942 in Jhang, Punjab (then British India, now Pakistan). He began learning photography from his elder brother, renowned photographer S. Paul, in 1962.

He started working as a photographer for The Statesman newspaper in New Delhi in 1965. During this period, he covered several major national events and even visited the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1968, where the British band The Beatles were present at the time.

Recorded the Bhopal Gas Tragedy

In 1976, he left The Statesman and worked as a picture editor for the weekly magazine Sunday. In 1977, French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson nominated him to join Magnum Photos.

He later joined India Today, where he worked as a picture editor and photographer. He also covered the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy and prepared a lengthy project on it, which later became the book “Exposure: A Corporate Crime.”

In his career, he wrote more than 18 books, and his photographs were published in international magazines such as Time, Life, The New York Times, Newsweek, and The New Yorker.

Leaders paid tribute, saying he captured the soul of India on camera

Raghu Rai was awarded the Padma Shri for his coverage of the 1972 Bangladesh War. In 2017, he also received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge described him as a pillar of Indian photography. Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that Raghu Rai presented the “soul of India” to the world through his photographs.

PDP leader Waheed Ur Rehman Parra also paid tribute, saying that his camera witnessed India’s social and political history.