Rich tributes continue to pour in for Raghu Rai, India's most celebrated photojournalist, following his death at the age of 83 - a man who spent five decades proving that a camera can be mightier than a thousand politicians.
Rai spent more than five decades documenting the country, capturing moments from political power to everyday life with striking clarity. From the aftermath of the Bhopal gas tragedy to the years of militancy in Punjab that killed thousands in the 1980s, his images didn't just record history - they shaped how a nation saw its own defining events, which is a lot of pressure for a piece of glass and metal.
He began his career at The Statesman newspaper in 1966, later working as photo editor at India Today and Sunday magazines. In 1977, he joined the globally recognised photography agency Magnum Photos - often seen as one of the highest recognitions in photography - with a helping hand from pioneering French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, whose work left a lasting influence on Rai.
His photographs of former prime minister Indira Gandhi remain among the most enduring visual records of political power in India, capturing her across settings from charged election campaigns to closed-door Congress party meetings. He also turned his lens on celebrated figures like playback singer Lata Mangeshkar, filmmaker Satyajit Ray, painter MF Hussain, and Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, often capturing the devotion between art and audience.
Rai's work during the Punjab militancy of the 1980s remains among his most striking, including a portrait of Sikh separatist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale that captured a moment heavy with tension and consequence. He often spoke about photography as something far deeper than technique, describing it in one interview as a form of spiritual engagement: "I meet my god through my camera."
"Once I pick up my camera, I am driven by the ever-changing energy of life and nature," he said. "When you have invested mentally, physically, and spiritually in situations and take pictures constantly, it is like investing in a bank of life in which the returns keep getting bigger and the energy keeps you going."
He also spoke about the discipline behind an image - a sustained practice rather than quick visual experiments. His favourite portrait subject was the Dalai Lama, citing the "intensity and spiritual energy" he brings to a frame, though he stressed that admiration should not shape the image: a portrait must reflect "the moment, the experience of the person, the energy of the person" as it existed at that time.
Photographers and editors 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. Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, because even in death, the show must go on social media.