In April, as India’s governing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ran elections in parts of the country, a visionary Indian passed away. He went quietly, much as he had lived, and left behind a vast photographic archive of the world’s most populous nation.
Raghu Rai (1942-2026) was India’s foremost photographer. Born prior to independence in what is now Pakistan, he and his family were one of the many millions forced to relocate during Partition.
For more than 60 years, Rai created a continuous visual record of India post-independence. He photographed major national figures, important moments in the country’s complex development, and the wide diversity – geographic, religious, cultural, social and ethnic – that shapes what it means to be Indian.
