Speakers
For over six decades, Raghu Rai’s camera captured India’s triumphs and tragedies, its politics and its people. In this tribute, his daughter, Avani Rai, joins virtually for a conversation with Raj Chengappa and Namas Bhojani. Together they revisit memorable assignments, iconic covers, and the campaign to save the Ajanta cave paintings. They will unpack his distinctive approach to photojournalism, portraiture and visual storytelling. The session will then open to the audience for questions. What did it mean for the nation to have been captured through his lens?
Winning national and international acclaim, Raghu Rai’s work spans the Bangladesh war, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, the colour and vibrancy of Punjab, portraits of Indira Gandhi and Mother Teresa, the Taj Mahal, the Musicians series, and countless images of everyday India. He began in black-and-white, moved into colour through his years with India Today, and later embraced the digital camera with the same restless curiosity that marked his whole career.
About Raghu Rai
Raghu Rai (born December 1942) began photography in 1965 after qualifying as a civil engineer. He joined The Statesman as Chief Photographer (1966–1976) before becoming Picture Editor at Sunday magazine (1977–1980). Following a Thomson Fellowship in England, he worked briefly with The Times, London, but returned to India to pursue his creative vision.
In 1972, Henri Cartier-Bresson nominated Rai to Magnum Photos after seeing his exhibition in Paris; he became a member in 1977 and continues to be part of the renowned cooperative. From 1982 to 1991, he served as Picture Editor, Visualiser, and Photographer at India Today, producing landmark photo essays on Indian life and culture.
Rai was awarded the Padma Shri for his powerful documentation of the Bangladesh Liberation War and its refugees. His many honours include Photographer of the Year (USA, 1992), Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters (France, 2009), Lifetime Achievement Award (India, 2016), Lucie Foundation’s Master of Photojournalism (2018), and the Académie des Beaux-Arts Photography Award (Paris, 2019).
His photographs have appeared in leading international publications, and he has authored over 60 books. His long-term documentation of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy remains one of the most significant visual records of the disaster.
Image Credit: © Raghu Rai | Courtesy: Raghu Rai Archive
Speakers
Raj Chengappa
Raj Chengappa is a veteran journalist with over forty years’ experience, currently Group Editorial Director (Publishing) and Editor of India Today magazine, and host of the award-winning podcast Nothing But The Truth. Previously Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune Group and Managing Editor of India Today. A specialist in political analysis, foreign affairs, security and nuclear weapons, he authored Weapons of Peace on India’s nuclear history. He has interviewed leaders including PM Narendra Modi, Dr Manmohan Singh, Vladimir Putin, and Benjamin Netanyahu. A Nieman Fellow at Harvard, his honors include the Ramnath Goenka Award and ENBA Best Video Podcast Host.
Namas Bhojani
Namas Bhojani is a Bangalore-based freelance photographer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Marie Claire, TIME, Newsweek, Bloomberg News, The New York Times, Financial Times, and Wall Street Journal. He was founding Photo Editor for Cosmopolitan India and part of the founding team of Business Today magazine. His career began in the 1980s at India Today Group’s Bombay magazine, covering subjects from politics and business to Bollywood and social issues. He authored Bombay-A Contemporary Account of Mumbai (HarperCollins, 1996). His tsunami photograph was nominated by Bloomberg for the Pulitzer Prize. He was part of the Knight Fellowship program at Stanford University (1995-96).
Avani Rai
Avani Rai is a Mumbai-based filmmaker and photographer whose work explores memory, political silence, and inherited histories. Her debut documentary, Raghu Rai: An Unframed Portrait, co-produced by ARTE France, premiered at IDFA and screened at DocPoint, DocAviv, MakeDox, Doc Edge, Nordisk Panorama, and UNAFF, and opened the TRT Documentary Film Festival in Istanbul. Her photographic work has appeared in National Geographic, Vogue, The Wire, Afar Magazine, Art Basel, and Mercedes-Benz Magazine. She has directed and photographed campaigns for Apple, Google, Dior, WhatsApp, and British Airways, collaborating with agencies including Uncommon Creative Studio, Droga5, Ogilvy, TBWA, and Cheil.
