Raghu Rai (b.1942; joined Magnum in 1977) took up photography in 1965 and a year later he joined the statesman newspaper as chief photographer. In 1972 he was awarded the 'Padamshree', one of the highest civilian awards ever given to a photographer. From 1976 to 1991 he worked for news magazines Sunday and India Today, and he also contributed groundbreaking photo essays on social, political and cultural themes to TIME, LIFE, GEO, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE SUNDAY TIMES, NEWSWEEK AND THE NEW YORKER. Based in Delhi, Rai has covered India extensively. Rai has produced more than 55 picture books on different subjects and aspects on India. He continues to be an associate of Magnum Photos.
Awards:
1972: Padamshree
1992: he was awarded “Photographer of the Year” in the United States for the story “Human Management of Wildlife in India” published in National Geographic.
2009: he was conferred Officere des Arts et des Lettres by Government of France.
2015: Lifetime achievement award by Govt of India ( Ministry of I&B)
Gurmeet S. Rai – a conservation architect based in New Delhi, India. In 1996 she set up the Cultural Resource Conservation Initiative (CRCI), a conservation consultancy firm to enhance and strengthen creative approach to otherwise routine practices.
Gurmeet has been a specialist consultant to several UNESCO workshops in Asia-Pacific. She is the only Indian who has been invited to be on the Jury for the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation every time from 2005 to 2018 and till date.
She is involved in urban conservation in the recently launched program of Ministry of Urban Development called HRIDAY. She has been appointed as the HRIDAY City Anchor for the two historic cities of Amritsar in Punjab and Puri in Odisha.
She is currently the Vice President of ICOMOS India and an expert, voting member on the International Scientific Committee on Cultural Tourism.