A tribute in the Indian Express newspaper recalled Rai as a “tenacious, observant and deeply curious, external” professional who “instilled life into every photograph that he took and captured the pulse of the nation”. Another in The Times of India newspaper described Rai as a “colossus of his craft, external“.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Rai as a “creative stalwart” who “captured India’s vibrancy through his lens”. In a post on X, Modi said Rai’s photography showed “extraordinary sensitivity, depth and diversity”, and helped bring people closer to different aspects of life in India.
Photographers and editors have often described Rai’s work as bridging reportage and art, combining immediacy with composition.
His archive now stands as a sustained act of witnessing – a country, its people, and its contradictions – through a lens that remained, above all, deeply human.
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