Common man
Delhi-Mumbai train, 1982, tea vendor. Photograph by Raghu Rai
“I have deliberately remained focused on the universality of Indian life and its many cultures. It is the life of an ordinary being that sums up the real character sketch of a country,” he says.
Ace photographer Raghu Rai has spent over four decades charting the changing faces of India, from Mrs Gandhi and Mother Teresa to the victims of Bhopal.
An exhibition titled Divine Moments, which has been organised by Tasveer in collaboration with Vacheron Constantin recently opened in the capital, featuring some of his timeless images. The photographer talks about his life behind the lens and what makes a picture speak for itself.
Rai tells us that around 35 frames exhibited in the show have been taken from his major retrospective mounted at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, in 2008.
The works displayed at the exhibition have been selected from his wide-ranging photographic oeuvre, to focus on his work in photography of the street and other public spaces taken by him across India over the past many decades.
Talking about his accomplishments, at 70, Rai says, “It’s fulfilling to know one is going deeper into the layers of complexity of my country… I like being among my own people. I merge with them. I don’t carry camera bags; I don’t wear stylish clothes. I have one camera with a zoom lens so I am not alarming people; no one is saying, ‘Here comes a photographer!’”
Recalling a significant day in the past, he says, “A day before Ayodhya violence broke out, that misty morning of December had such a mystic feeling about it. With the man and the animal together in perfect harmony, it brings out the irony that the world can be so unpredictable and evanescent,” recalls Rai referring to one of the images displayed titled “The Day Before - Ayodhya, 1992’’, in which a sadhu is extending an offering to a passerby and a hefty monkey is perched on a wall. Working for a news magazine back in 1992, Rai was sent to cover the Ayodhya riots.
One often gets carried away while capturing disturbing incidents. Rai says, “Getting carried away in painful situations is not a very good idea. One can still play the role of a detached witness with a cool eye and a compassionate heart.”
So what inspires him the most while shooting? “A photographer should always be mindful of his space. I believe in walking around with a keen eye and I treat my work as my dharma. While walking down the streets, anything that whispers ‘Hi’ to my lenses is what I like to capture,” he says.
A picture that speaks to you, he feels, is produced when body, mind and spirit culminate in that one moment, and the exhibition offers several such gems where you can witness the moment.
Rai reveals his forthcoming book is on trees, titled Whispers, which he plans to release by the end of this year. Another book on clouds and monsoons is scheduled to be released next year.
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