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The Académie des beaux-arts welcomes the work of Raghu Rai, laureate of the first edition of the Académie des beaux-arts Photography Award – William Klein. As a consecration award, this prize is intended to reward a photographer for his/her entire career and commitment to photography.

Raghu Rai (1942) started photography by chance in 1965. In 1966 he began to work for The Statesman as their chief photographer. In 1969 he completed a Thomson fellowship in England and worked for The Times for four weeks. After three half pages of his picture essays were published week after week, he was offered a job at The Times by Norman Hall. He returned to India to continue his unfinished creative explorations in the lanes and by lanes of his country.

In 1972, impressed with Rai’s exhibition at Gallery Delpire, Paris, Henri Cartier-Bresson nominated him to Magnum photos. Also in 1972, Rai was awarded a Padma Shree, for his work on the Bangladesh War, a first for any photographer by the Indian Government. He could only begin his association with Magnum Photos in 1977, which continues presently. Rai was picture editor for India Today from 1982 to 1991. His work on special issues, their design and his trailblazing photo essays on social, political and cultural themes such as Masters of Indian Classical Music, Satyajit Ray, and Mother Teresa touched the hearts of many people.

In 1992 Rai was awarded ”Photographer of the Year” in America for his story Human Management of Wildlife in India for National Geographic. In 2009 he was conferred Officer des Arts et des Letters by the French Government. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Indian Government in 2016. In 2018 he was awarded a Master of Photojournalism by the Lucie Foundation.

His photo essays have appeared in Time, Life, National Geographic, Le Figaro, Le Monde, Die Welt, The New York Times, The Sunday Times London, Newsweek, Vogue, GQ, Marie Claire, The Independent, and The New Yorker. He has been an adjudicator for the World Press Photo Contest and UNESCO’s International Photo Contest many times.

Under special assignment from Greenpeace International, his coverage of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy was compiled into a book with three sets of exhibitions that travelled throughout the world. It helped raise awareness and brought relief for many victims. In 2002 Rai participated in a special exhibition and picture book on India and Mexico with Sebastião Salgado and Graciela Iturbide.

His photographic reports have been published in many magazines and newspapers around the world. In 2012, he created the Raghu Rai Center for Photography, a place for sharing and teaching photography to young generations.

Raghu Rai currently lives in New Delhi and works on his 57th book.