India, April 26 -- The passing away of one of India's leading photographers and Padma Shri recipient Raghu Rai on Sunday morning has left people across sections in shock. Eminent photographer Pablo Bartholomew, who has worked with him for decades and has admired his work, says it's a "personal loss" as they shared many things in common.

"I knew him because he was my father's friend. He was very senior to me, and later we became contemporaries as photojournalists in the field. Our birthdate is the same (December 18) and we used to connect with each other on that day. We did several assignments together including the Bhopal Gas Tragedy and Babri Masjid demolition," says Pablo.

Terming him "as a father figure in photojournalism", he says, ...