Kalaripayatt Martial Arts. Two combatants demonstrate extraordinary elan and agility during a combat session. India. 1999. © Raghu Rai / Magnum Photos

Rai exhibited his works in London, Paris, New York, Hamburg, Prague, Tokyo, Zurich and Sydney. His photo essays have appeared in many of the world’s leading magazines and newspapers including TIME, LIFE, Geo, The New York Times, The Sunday Times, Newsweek, The Independent and The New Yorker. He served three times on the World Press Photo jury and twice on the jury of UNESCO’s International Photo Contest.

Attending his funeral on April 26, New Delhi-based Magnum photographer Sohrab Hura wrote: “Raghu Rai passed this morning. At his cremation today he was surrounded by not only his family but hundreds of photographers and others whose lives have been touched by him in some way or the other. Even my uncle who had no prior interest in photography had heard of the news and had forwarded me the time and venue of the cremation ceremony, in case I had missed it.”

“The thing is that post independence, many generations of people here had come to see a young nation grow into what they identified as India, through Raghu Rai’s eye and so one did not need to be a photographer to be able to relate to him. He was bigger than photography in that regard. During the cremation ceremony, everyone present was struggling to come to terms with the end of an era. A part of our lives feels broken because as photographers we all saw ourselves in relation to him and yet he will always linger on in our lives because we can’t think of our history without thinking of his photographs. I’m very lucky that I got to know him from the time I started to learn photography.”

Benares (Varanasi). Uttar Pradesh, India. © Raghu Rai / Magnum Photos

Last year, in a masterclass video for National Geographic India, Rai shared his advice to budding photographers: “Your response should come from your heart, because your heart is you. That is being original. And if your heart gets touched by a movement or a specific thing happening, it will touch other people’s hearts.”

Overcrowded local trains connecting Mumbai with its suburbs. Mumbai, India. © Raghu Rai / Magnum Photos

Through the doors of a wrestling school. Delhi, India. 1989. © Raghu Rai / Magnum Photos

Walking alone along Marine Drive. Mumbai, India. © Raghu Rai / Magnum Photos

Untitles. Trees Series. © Raghu Rai / Magnum Photos

The day before the demolition by activists of the Babri Masjid, a mosque at the site believed by many Hindus to be the birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama. Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. December 5, (…)