10/05/2026
*Raghurai: The Immortal Photographer
You know him. Satyajit Ray was the extraordinary filmmaker who introduced our country and its life to the world as a heartfelt, deeply humane symphony. In photography, Raghurai did something even more expansive and unparalleled. No other photographer has captured this nation in all its myriad dimensions with such richness and depth.
Though he left us on the 26th of last month, the vast body of work he left behind is enough. It serves as a visual chronicle that tells not just us, but the entire world, what India is and what the everyday lives of its ordinary people look like. That is why we say: one is enough. His birth was made meaningful by this supreme service he rendered to future generations in helping them understand India. Here is a heartfelt tribute — a brief account of what Raghurai accomplished.
Raghurai was born in undivided India before Partition. After Partition, he chose India as his motherland. He began his career as an ordinary engineer. Only later did he become the great photographer we know. You may find it hard to believe, but his real name was Raghunath Chowdhury. He completed his engineering in Punjab. During the Goa liberation period, he joined as a draughtsman to prepare war maps for the Army. Though he worked for only a year, his skill as a draughtsman was already highly praised. A year later, he came to visit his elder brother Paul, who was working as a photographer for The Indian Express, intending to take a break. Instead, he became a tireless photographer himself. It was a coincidence — but it turned out to be a precious gift to this nation.
Yes. With a small camera given by his brother, he took his first photograph: a young donkey standing upright like a yogi. That image was not only published in The New York Times but also won an award and was printed on greeting cards. This convinced him to choose photography as his medium and life’s calling. Interestingly, when he joined The Statesman as a photographer, he changed his name to Raghurai — “just for rhyme,” he said. And it clicked perfectly.
It didn’t just click — it defined him. From the time that 23-year-old young man named Raghunath Chowdhury began his professional life as a photographer until his passing last month at the age of 83, he lived and breathed with his finger on the shutter for a full six decades. As a full-time “lensman,” he extraordinarily documented the times, conditions, and soul of this country, leaving behind thousands of artistic masterpieces. No other photographer in the world has produced as many books — over fifty — compiling his work into a priceless treasure. Looking at them all, it feels as though he, like a loving child, wove a fragrant garland of diverse flowers using images of his Bharat Mata and offered it with utmost affection and humility.
From the moment he picked up a camera, Raghurai worked in three capacities: as a newspaper/magazine photographer, as an Associate Photographer with Magnum Photos, and as an independent photographer. For six decades, he worked tirelessly. In the realm of Indian photography, the name Raghurai became an unmatched signature in the fourth estate — the press. It was largely because of him that photography, like painting, began to attract lakhs of readers as a signature art form in India.
He began his career in 1965 as a photographer with The Statesman, where he worked for ten years. He then served as Picture Editor of Sunday magazine (published from Kolkata) for four years. Later, he took charge as Picture Editor of India Today for another ten years. In total, he spent twenty-five years working across different publications, constantly experimenting. He photographed a wide range of social, political, and cultural subjects, giving photojournalism in India unprecedented importance and stature.
It was Raghurai’s touch that brought six-column photographs to the pages of magazines so frequently. It was his initiative that placed ordinary India and its everyday lives on the front pages. It was also thanks to him that readers developed a deeper understanding of spiritual events like the Kumbh Mela.
Beyond single photographs, he elevated the photo essay. He created numerous special issues that brought to light countless aspects of life through images. He produced extraordinary photo stories not only on young u***d mothers and the world of the mentally ill, but also on our great musicians, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Indira Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan, and many others. He didn’t just pair text with visuals — he strengthened the belief that photographs themselves could tell powerful stories.
In 1990, when he left India Today, he made a telling remark. He called the growing trend of media prioritizing entertainment over information “infotainment.” He said, “This is contrary to showing life as it truly is. Instead of fighting for space for reality like an artist of my kind, it is better to work independently and portray India as it is.” He left his job and did exactly that. From 1990 until his death, he never worked as an employee again. As a fiercely independent photographer, he lived as an experimenter and seeker, immersing himself completely in showing what India truly meant. There has been no other photographer in this country who maintained such responsible, uncompromising photojournalism — free from the pursuit of money, fame, awards, or political pressure.
After his early years in regular employment and later as an independent photographer, another significant chapter was his association with Magnum Photos. In 1976, responding to a call from the legendary Henri Cartier-Bresson, Raghurai joined the renowned Magnum Photos agency as an Associate Photographer. He stood shoulder to shoulder with the world’s most celebrated photographers and introduced India and its incredible diversity of life to global audiences in his own distinctive style. He was also the first photographer from India to be invited to join Magnum.
Raghurai’s six-decade-long, deeply committed journey as a photographer is a glorious chapter in the history of Indian photography. Through lakhs of images, thousands of stories, hundreds of special issues, and more than fifty coffee-table books, he left an indelible mark as a truly distinctive photographer. And all of this came from an engineer who unexpectedly became a photographer.
What did he capture? In black and white, he powerfully documented the Bangladesh War and the plight of refugees — work for which he received the Padma Shri. He also captured the heart-wrenching death of children in Bhopal in a way that still moves the soul. He was the one who boldly declared through a book that the Bhopal gas tragedy was not merely a “tragedy” but a “corporate crime.”
He was a poet with a camera who saw this country as a unique environment, a multi-layered world of life, and reflected its vitality and flowing essence in divine visual poetry.
He photographed women and men, the downtrodden and the saintly, political leaders and refugees, the ordinary and the famous — all with the same eye, same dedication, and boundless compassion. He captured people, towns, places, rivers, civilizations, leaves, waves, clouds, fields, and sculptures, preserving them from the ravages of time. From the Golden Temple in Amritsar to the Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati, from the Kumbh Mela to the Edupayala Jatara — he documented every aspect of life in this land with such affection that each photograph feels like a complete world in itself. He portrayed not just humanity but also the spiritual essence that forms the very soul of this nation with profound responsibility. His work reached such a level that his images became his life itself — immortalized.His photographs of the Taj Mahal across different seasons are particularly poetic and must be seen. The way he captured and compiled them is a delightful, unforgettable example of his mastery.
Many people die, and we feel their absence. But Raghurai is not like that. One is enough. One lifetime was enough. Because he left behind images and footprints that will keep India alive in collective memory forever, he remains eternally alive — Chiranjeevi, immortal.
We never miss "RR".
Kandukuri Ramesh Babu
9948077893
Note: Next Saturday on 16th May at 6 PM, Raghu Rai Memorial Meeting at the State Art Gallery. Afternoon session: Discussion on his books.Organized by: Hyderabad Center for Photography.
