Photojournalist Raghu Rai honoured with first ever Academy of Fine Arts' William Klein award for photography

Raghu Rai, the photojournalist who captured with his lens the stark after-effects of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy (1984) and brought to viewers the hard-hitting visuals during the Bangladesh War (1971), was conferred with the first-ever Academie des Beaux Arts Photography Award - William Klein on 6 September, 2019.

Set up in the name of the photographer, painter, visual artist, graphic designer, filmmaker, it is a tribute to the master, known for his use of unusual technique in photojournalism and fashion photography.

The prize, with a sumptuous winner’s purse of 1,20,000 euros is intended to reward a photographer for the entire span of her career and honour the artist’s commitment to photography. The prize will be awarded every two years, alternating with the Photography Award Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière.

The jury, comprising notable figures such as Jean-Luc Monterosso and Bernard Perrine, correspondents of the photography section of the Academy of Fine Arts, and Alberto Anaut, president of PhotoEspaña and director of La Fábrica, among others, named Rai, a protégé of the phenomenal photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, the recipient of the first edition of this award.

Rai began his career as a photojournalist in 1965 with a stint at the offices of The Statesman and went on to work with several leading magazines and newspapers through the years. The photographer’s volumes including Raghu Rai’s Delhi, Mother Teresa: A Life of Dedication and Khajuraho capture his profound sense of the diverse shades of the country.

An exhibition celebrating the photojournalist’s work will be set up from at 24 October to 24 November, 2019 in the exhibition space of the Academy, at the Palais de l’Institut de France.