Raghu Rai, a renowned Indian photographer, has died at 83 in a Delhi hospital. His son, Nitin Rai, stated that he had been battling cancer for two years.
Rai was born in 1942 in Jhang, Punjab, and began learning photography in 1962 under his elder brother. He started his professional career in the mid-1960s and joined The Statesman in New Delhi in 1965.
Rai covered various national events, including the 1968 visit of The Beatles to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram. He worked with Magnum Photos and documented the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster.
Over his career, Rai published 18 books on India's people, culture, and cities. He received the Padma Shri in 1972 and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.
Tributes have poured in for Rai, with leaders describing him as a towering figure in Indian photography and a legend whose lens preserved defining moments of India's social and political journey.
