Raghu Rai - Picturing Time: The Greatest Photographs of Raghu Rai (Signed) 簽名版

Taj Mahal, 1985

I began photographing the Taj Mahal upon the insistence of Desmond Doig, who felt it needed to be seen from a fresh creative perspective. A few years later, I was flying with Air Force Chief Mulgaonkar over Ladakh where the press was being shown border security exercises carried out by the armed forces. I mentioned to him that I had been taking pictures of the Taj for three to four years and had taken photographs of it from every angle in nearly every season, from the village side, the river side, and there was only one side missing. He smiled and asked me what I wanted. I asked if he could organize a helicopter for me so I could take a picture of the Taj from the air. He immediately called his PR man, Sqn Ldr Malik, to coordinate with Air Force headquarters in Agra, and arranged for me to fly over the Taj Mahal for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. It was an old transport plane and they opened the big hatch with a strong wind blowing through. To keep me from being blown away, two guys held me in a sort of harness. I shot from different angles, it was so profoundly beautiful and fascinating. Even M.F. Hussain, himself a painter of such stature, congratulated me on this picture, it was something very special to him.

Indira in a Congress meeting, 1969

It was said of Indira Gandhi that she was ‘the only man in her cabinet’. Here she is in a meeting, surrounded by MLAs from Gujarat who had come to her with a proposal. R. K. Dhawan, who was Mrs Gandhi’s personal secretary, used to be the guy who handled everything for her. Whatever anybody’s agenda, he would help them, he was the middleman between the Congressmen and Mrs. Gandhi. And you can see how he, too, is waiting along with all the Congressmen for the Big Boss to sanction papers.

Family holiday in Goa, 2010

The setting was perfect—it was getting dark, the clouds were intensifying, there was a stranded ship near the shore (which I thought I could hijack).

Mango trees near Haridwar, 1996

My father was a circle superintendent with the Punjab irrigation department and my childhood was spent near canals. Growing up there were mango orchards and other plantations all around us. I came across these mango groves on my way to Haridwar and they instantly transported me to my childhood.

Diving at the Baoli, 1971

At the sixteenth-century Agrasen Baoli in Connaught Place when it still had water in it. Years later, the writer Sam Miller showed this picture to the guard at the Baoli and incredibly, the man said that he was the boy jumping into the water. He had a clipping of my photo as proof.

Portrait of Bal Thackeray, 2002

I expected Bal Thackeray to be a brusque and intimidating man, but he was rather friendly. About two hours into our shoot, at noon, he informed me that it was time for his wine and cigar. His glass was somewhere close by, and without any pretension he posed with his cigar for my camera.