Can a photographer turn into his own subject? In his almost six-decade-long career, the indomitable Father of Indian Photography has captured the Who’s Who of the world—from Mother Teresa and Dalai Lama to Indira Gandhi and Bismillah Khan. This time around, the lens has turned inwards.
“Sometime during the Covid lockdown, a friend sent me photographs of myself clicking others. I was, of course, pleased. Soon, another set arrived, and then more, till I had a healthy collection. My friend suggested why not turn it into a book.
This year, I decided to mount an exhibition of these unseen photographs clicked by my friends who travelled with me on shoots across the world,” says the 81-year-old in his Delhi home. The result is the exhibition, Raghu Rai: Photographed, at PHOTOINK in Vasant Kunj, Delhi, ongoing till March 2, curated by PHOTOINK founder Devika Daulet-Singh.
Rai’s long-lasting love affair with the camera started in 1963, when he moved to Defence Colony in Delhi to live with his photographer brother S Paul. “This collection also has many abstract images that show my silhouette. Remember, this was almost 40 years ago, a time when we didn’t have cellphone cameras for quick selfies. So, these shadows are my form of selfies,” smiles Rai as he busies himself sorting through almost 350 photographs for a new exhibition at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art.