Raghu Rai: I admired Indira Gandhi as she was the last PM to genuinely care about arts, culture, history & heritage

For decades, Raghu Rai has been India’s most celebrated photographer. Prime Ministers, Musicians, Sportsmen, celebrities and even monuments have been captured by his lens and he remains by far, the most iconic of Indian photographers.

His images have chronicled some of the worst environmental disasters in India, including the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, and he has followed the unfolding story for more than two decades. He has authored more than 30 books and mentored countless photographs.

From Mother Teresa to MS Subbalakshmi, his images share the story of the people and events of Independent India. The prolific photographer was the Chief Guest at the Indian Photography Festival (IPF’s) Photographer of the Year awards in Hyderabad and FirstPost caught up with him at the sidelines of the event…

“We are living in the age of exaggeration”

You’ve been a photographer for more than half a century…how did it all start?

I started learning photography in 1962 under my elder brother Sharampal Chowdhry, better known as S Paul who was a photographer, and in 1965 joined The Statesman as its chief photographer. At that time, there were few photographers and fewer cameras, and you had to import film! Every click mattered as you couldn’t really afford to waste film. It was around 1972 when I exhibited a collection of my images at Paris that the great French photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson saw my images and recommended me to Magnum photos.

How has photography evolved over the years?

It is important to understand that photography is a relatively new art form, only about 100-150 years old.  But advances in recent years have made it very easy to use. A cell phone provides a flawless camera with no problems with exposure or lightning. There are apps and filters to improve quality. Even the digital cameras today are without flaws, they have auto exposure and many features. Earlier, skill mattered and the person behind the camera mattered. Now only the camera matters. Americans invented this phrase at the starting of the fast-food revolution, “Lets grab a sandwich”. Today it applies to clicking an image too.

How do you look back at your career where you shot so many public figures and captured the journey of a country over half a century?

I never sought out to prove anything. I come from a country where tapasya is the ultimate goal. To do everything with one’s mind, body and soul will ensure with success. I gave my everything to photography and in return, it has given me everything. It’s a two-way relationship. Photography is a connect with an experience that matters. I have realized it early on and stayed true to it.

What makes a great picture?

Without feelings and emotion, the world is a sad place to live in. Similarly, without these qualities, no photo can exist. In all the images I have shot, I tried to capture, the instinctive quality of an individual that makes them special. I have never tried to capture beauty. Beauty is anti-creativity as it is easy to capture beauty but to capture a person’s personality; that’s the challenge. Creativity means that nothing should be repeated and that makes a great picture.

What is unique about your portraits is about the abundance of warmth that shines through…

I have always tried to showcase qualities that make a person. Mother Teresa was the greatest person I ever met. I met her as a young man, and my first book on her was in 1972. She told me that they picked up the poorest of the poor, clean them up and look after them with dignity. That word (dignity) stuck with me and the commitment with which she did her job mattered to me.  She said that those suffering masses are her Christ, and her looking after them is her service to the Lord. That generosity of her spirit reflected in the images I took of her.

Who are the other people whose personality and images stayed with you…

My images of Maharani Gayatri Devi were popular. I shot with her for a UK based magazine and though she was older at the time, her grace and elegance never diminished. She would do anything I ask as a photographer with generosity and dignity and that showed in the images.

Indira Gandhi, was a great humanist and underwent a lot, both politically and personally, especially after the death of Sanjay Gandhi and all these changes reflected in her images. Personally, I admired her as she was the last Prime Minister to genuinely care about arts, culture, heritage and history.

Your images of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy are a defining record of that period. How difficult was it to shoot them?

As a photographer, you cannot afford sentiment. You need to reflect truth which is unbiased and uncoloured. It was a terrible time, as we saw people and animals just collapsing on the ground. It was very difficult to be meditative as there was death and destruction all around. It obviously affects you and both the Bhopal Gas tragedy and the Bangladesh war I covered were extremely onerous. In the latter, I was on the frontlines, so there was a physical threat too, but the essential part was to capture what was happening in front of us.

What do you think of Instagram and the fact that mobile phones have made a photographer of everyone?

We are living in the age of exaggeration. It is a frivolous world which functions on make-believe and artifice. This is a generation which thrives on instant gratification. Today, you click images without any expression or emotion put it on a dump called Instagram and get 200 likes and make so much noise about it.

The selfie has revolutionized social norms as we know it. What do you make of it?

The only thing it has revolutionized is self-indulgence and self-love. Self-admiration has been multiplied several times over due to technology and you see it everywhere from politics to news. It’s very unfortunate and damaging.

Your advice to young photographers?

There is a Buddhist philosophy, “Being here and now” which I believe in and which is not so simple to achieve. Exploration is a lonely journey and young people who are shooting on the field will always have to find a balance between the heart and the mind. It is not so easy to strike a balance as both will tell you conflicting things. The photographer needs to focus on his subject completely and coherently, and then decide which to follow.

Finally, as a frequent visitor to Hyderabad, how has the city changed over the years?

I am in love with the place. I went to a small village near airport and shot lambadas (tribes of the Deccan) with their colourful clothes and costumes. I shot the Hitech city which looks like New York and the old city of Charminar. The city has rejuvenated me.

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