Raghu Rai, photographer of the Indian soul and witness to Bhopal, has died at 83

Raghu Rai passed away on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at the age of 83. His family announced his death in a statement expressing "deep sadness." Born in a village in Pakistani Punjab before the partition of the Indian subcontinent, this construction engineer by training discovered photography six decades ago thanks to his brother, himself a photographer. His first published image—a donkey looking directly into his lens—appeared in The Times of London, according to the Indian Express. Nothing suggested that he would become one of the greatest photographers of his time.

Bhopal, Bangladesh, Mother Teresa: a life dedicated to documenting India in all its complexity

After beginning his career in photojournalism in the 1960s and 70s, working alongside the major media outlets of the time, Raghu Rai embarked on a solo quest that would occupy his entire life: representing the complexity of his vast country. His most significant works include his coverage of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 and, above all, his documentation of the 1984 Bhopal industrial disaster—a gas leak that killed approximately 25,000 people, the worst in India's history. His intimate portraits of Mother Teresa are also among his most celebrated works, as are his series on the Taj Mahal and the Indian masses. He published dozens of photography books throughout his career. "I can never be true to my experiences without a camera," he once said.

Member of Magnum introduced by Cartier-Bresson, a worldwide recognition

It was Henri Cartier-Bresson himself who introduced him to Magnum Photos, the New York cooperative that brings together the biggest names in world photojournalism. In 1972, Raghu Rai received the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors, and won the very first Photography Prize from the Academy of Fine Arts. Upon the announcement of his death, politician and parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor paid tribute to "the visionary who captured the beating heart and soul of India," while Rahul Gandhi, the opposition leader, told AFP: "He didn't just take pictures, he preserved the memory of our nation."