Raghu Rai
Raghu Rai (born 1942) is an Indian photographer and photojournalist.[1][2] Rai became a photographer in 1965, and a year later joined the staff of The Statesman, a New Delhi publication. In 1976, he left the paper and became a freelance photographer. From 1982 up until 1992, Rai was the director of photography for India Today. He has served on the jury for World Press Photo three times.[citation needed]
Early life
Raghu Rai was born in the small village of Jhhang, British India (now in Pakistan).
Career
Raghu Rai took up photography in 1965, and the following year joined "The Statesman" newspaper as its chief photographer. Rai left "The Statesman" in 1976 to work as picture editor for "Sunday," a weekly news magazine published in Calcutta. Impressed by an exhibit of his work in Paris in 1971, Henri Cartier-Bresson nominated Rai to join Magnum Photos in 1977. Rai left "Sunday" in 1980 and worked as Picture Editor/Visualizer/Photographer of "India Today", India’s leading news magazine, during its formative years. From 1982 to 1991, he worked on special issues and designs, contributing trailblazing picture essays on social, political and cultural themes, many of which became the talking point of the magazine.
Rai has specialized in extensive coverage of India. He has produced more than 18 books, including Raghu Rai’s Delhi, The Sikhs, Calcutta, Khajuraho, Taj Mahal, Tibet in Exile, India, and Mother Teresa. His photo essays have appeared in many of the world’s leading magazines and newspapers including Time, Life, GEO, The New York Times, Sunday Times, Newsweek, The Independent, and the New Yorker.
For Greenpeace, he has completed an in-depth documentary project on the chemical disaster at Bhopal in 1984, and on its ongoing effects on the lives of gas victims. This work resulted in a book and three exhibitions that have been touring Europe, America, India and southeast Asia since 2004, the 20th anniversary of the disaster. Rai hopes that the exhibition can support the many survivors through creating greater awareness, both about the tragedy, and about the victims – many who are still uncompensated – who continue to live in the contaminated environment around Bhopal.
He has served three times on the jury of the World Press Photo and twice on the jury of UNESCO's International Photo Contest.
Personal life
Raghu Rai lives in Delhi with his family and continues to be an associate of Magnum Photos.
Awards
- Padmashree’ in 1971
- National Geographic cover story “Human Management of Wildlife in India” won him widespread critical acclaim for the piece. (1992)
- Photographer of the Year from USA (1992)
Exhibitions
- 2005 India - Musei Capitolini Centrale Montemartini, Rome, Italy
- 2005 Bhopal 1984–2004 - Melkweg Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 2004 Exposure - Drik Gallery, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Leica Gallery,Prague, Czech Republic
- 2003 Exposure: Portrait of a Corporate Crime - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
- 2003 Bhopal - Sala Consiliare, Venice, Italy; Photographic Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
- 2002 Volkart Foundation, Winterthur, Switzerland
- 2002 Raghu Rai’s India - A Retrospective – Photofusion, London, UK
- 1997 Retrospective - National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, India
Collection
- Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France
Books
- 2010 India's Great Masters: A Photographic Journey into the Heart of Classical Music[3]
- 2005 Mother Theresa: A Life of Dedication, Harry N. Abrams, USA
- 2005 Romance of India, Timeless Books, India
- 2004 Indira Gandhi: A Living Legacy, Timeless Books, India
- 2004 Exposure: Portrait Of A Corporate Crime, Greenpeace, Netherlands
- 2003/04 Saint Mother: A Life Dedicated, Timeless Books, India;Mère Teresa), La Martinière, France
- 2002 Bhopal Gas Tragedy (with Suroopa Mukherjee), Tulika Publishers, India
- 2001 Raghu Rai's India - A Retrospective, Asahi Shimbun, Japan
- 2000 Lakshadweep, UT of Lakshadweep, India
- 2000 Raghu Rai... in his Own Words, Roli Books, India
- 1998 Man, Metal and Steel, Steel Authority of India, Ltd., India
- 1997 My Land and Its People, Vadehra Gallery, India
- 1996 Faith and Compassion: The Life and Work or Mother Teresa, Element Books, USA
- 1996/01 Dreams of India, Times Editions, Singapore/Greenwich, UK
- 1994 Raghu Rai's Delhi, Indus/Harper Collins, India
- 1991 Khajuraho, Time Books International, India
- 1990/91 Tibet in Esilio, Mondadori, Italy; (Tibet in Exile), Chronicle Books, USA
- 1990 Delhi and Agra (with Lai Kwok Kin and Nitin Rai), Hunter Publications, Inc., USA
- 1989 Calcutta, Time Books International, India
- 1988 Dreams of India, Time Books International, Singapore; (L'Inde), Arthaud, France
- 1986/87 Taj Mahal, Times Editions, Singapore; Robert Laffont, France; Rizzoli Publications, USA
- 1985 Indira Gandhi (with Pupul Jayakar), Lustre Press, India
- 1984 The Sikhs, Lustre Press, India
- 1983 Delhi: A Portrait, Delhi Tourist Development Corporation/Oxford University Press, India/UK
- 1974 A Day in the life of Indira Gandhi, Nachiketa Publications, India