Raghu Rai Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Full Name	Raghunath Rai Chowdhry
Profession(s)	Photographer, Photojournalist
Famous For	Being the First Indian Magnum Photographer
Physical Stats & More
Eye Colour	Brown
Hair Colour	Salt & Pepper
Personal Life
Date of Birth	18 December 1942 (Friday)
Birthplace	Jhang, Punjab, British India (now in Pakistan)
Date of Death	26 April 2026 (Sunday)
Place of Death	Delhi, India
Age (at the time of death)	83 Years
Death Cause	Prostate Cancer
Zodiac sign	Sagittarius
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Jhang, Pakistan
Educational Qualification	Civil Engineer
Religion	Not Known
Hobbies	Reading, Writing
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• Padmashree in 1972 • Photographer of the Year from USA in 1992 • Officier des Arts et des Lettres by French Government in 2009
Social Media	Instagram
Girls, Affairs, and More
Marital Status (at the time of death)	Married
Family
Wife/Spouse	First Wife:- Usha Rai (Journalist) (m. 1968) Second Wife:- Gurmeet Sangha Rai (Architect) (m. 1989; until his death in 2026)
Children	Son- 1 • Nitin Rai (Photojournalist) (from Usha Rai) Daughter(s)- 3 • Purvai Rai (CEO and Founder of Creative Image Magazine) (from Gurmeet Sangha Rai) • Lagan Rai (from Usha Rai) • Avani Rai (Photographer) (from Gurmeet Sangha Rai)
Parents	Father- Name Not Known (in Irrigation Department) Mother- Name Not Known
Siblings	Brother- Sharampal Chowdhry (Photographer) Sister- Not Known Note: He has 3 siblings.
Favourite Things
Favourite Drink(s)	Whisky, Rum
Favourite Place	His farm near Delhi

Some Lesser Known Facts About Raghu Rai

• Did Raghu Rai drink alcohol?: Yes

• He was born in Jhang (now in Pakistan) and was the youngest of his 3 siblings. After completing his Civil Engineering, he started his career as an engineer in New Delhi. Due to the lack of interest in this field, he worked there for just one year and then left the job.

• In 1962, he started learning photography from his elder brother Sharampal Chowdhry, better known as S Paul, and began his journey as a photographer in 1965 at the age of 23.

• In 1966, he became a part of “The Statesman” (a New Delhi publication), West Bengal. He worked there as a Chief Photographer for almost 10 years and left the newspaper in 1976.

• After getting impressed by his exhibition at Gallery Delpire (held in Paris), the renowned photographer Henri Cartier Bresson announced his name to join Magnum Photos in 1977.

• In 1972, he was honoured with the “Padma Shri” for the work he produced on Bangladesh refugees, the war and the surrender.

• In 1977, he joined “Sunday” (a weekly news magazine published from Calcutta) as a Picture Editor and worked there for 3 years.

• In 1980, he left “Sunday” and started working with “India Today” as Visualizer/Picture Editor/Photographer during its formative years.

• Then, he worked on special designs and issues, contributing photo essays on political, cultural, and social themes of the decade from 1982 to 1991. His picture essays have featured in the world’s leading newspapers and magazines such as Life, Time, Le Monde, Newsweek, Vogue, GEO, Die Welt, The Independent, and more. Here are Raghu Rai’s 5 most iconic photographs:

• In 1984, he was the person who covered the worst industrial disaster in Bhopal, India, i.e. ‘Bhopal Gas Tragedy.’
  

  Picture taken by Raghu Rai during Bhopal Tragedy

• In 1992, he was conferred “Photographer of the Year” in the United States for his story “Human Management of Wildlife in India;” published on National Geographic.

• He had been an arbitrator for World Press Photo Contest, UNESCO International Photo Contest, and Amsterdam International Photo Contest for several times.

• He was an expert in extensive coverage of India and published a number of books including A Day in the life of Indira Gandhi, The Sikhs, Taj Mahal, Delhi and Agra, Romance of India, Mother Teresa, Bangladesh: The Price of Freedom, Raghu Rai’s India: Reflections in Colour and Reflections in Black and White, and more.
  

  Raghu Rai’s India: Reflections in Colour and Reflections in Black and White

• In 2002, a special exhibition and photo book was organized on Mexico and India; in which his work was presented along with two well-known photographers Sebastião Salgado (from France) and Graciela Iturbide (from Mexico). His remarkable work has also been featured in the main books by Magnum Photos, e.g. “Exhibitions.”

• A documentary titled “Raghu Rai: An Unframed Portrait” is a reflection of his life as a photojournalist. This documentary was directed by his daughter Avani Rai and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap. Here’s a short view on the documentary:

• Raghu Rai passed away at the age of 83 in Delhi on 26 April 2026. He had been battling prostate cancer for two years.