For Raghu Rai, no story was too small

Raghu Rai believed that every subject has a story that demands attention and every frame has the potential to reveal itself as an act of discovery. Driven by relentless curiosity and keen observation, he gave India some of its most enduring photographs that chronicle not just its festivities and high points but also its critical moments and contradictions. With his death, India has lost not just one of its finest photographers but also a maverick who could find meaning in almost anything and anywhere: From the corridors of political power to the bustling streets of Old Delhi; from the mundaneness of every life to the disasters that upended life and livelihoods. A photographer for life, he did not simply document India but was very much part of every photograph that carries his imprint.

A photojournalist for over three decades, what distinguished him was not the access that he had but his firm resolve to be an active participant on the ground during moments that defined India’s history. The 1971 war, for instance, saw him travel to the India-Bangladesh border, where he photographed the plight of the refugees. The same instinct took him to Bhopal after the gas tragedy in 1984 and to Amritsar at the time of Operation Bluestar. Acquainted with then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who he photographed on several occasions, he not just vehemently opposed the Emergency but also found ways to record it as a photojournalist. In each of these instances, his focus was not merely on the event but its larger repercussions and how it impacted the human condition.

His portraits, too, reflect his sustained engagement with his subjects, from Mother Teresa to the Dalai Lama, from Satyajit Ray to Bhimsen Joshi, from Himmat Shah to Arundhati Roy. The attentiveness with which he photographed the well-recognised also extended to the more anonymous inhabitants of the nation. “Eventually, it’s the ordinary daily life that sums up the essence of the everyday. It is where the magic lies. My faith lies in the eyes of the people I photograph,” he said in an interview to this paper. His several exhibitions and publications took his images to a global audience and inspired generations of photographers, his gaze continued to remain deeply rooted in India and was driven by his conviction that the image reveals itself only to those who are willing to look long enough.