India, April 27 -- Raghu Rai, one of India's best-known photographers, died at a private hospital in the city on Sunday. He was 83. Born on December 18, 1942, in Jhang, Punjab (now in Pakistan), Rai was qualified as a civil engineer and only took up photography at 23 before joining The Statesman newspaper as its chief photographer in 1966.

He is survived by wife Gurmeet, son Nitin and daughters Lagan, Avani and Purvai. "Dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago but he was cured. Then it spread to the stomach, that too was cured. Recently, the cancer spread to his brain and then there were age-related issues too," Nitin Rai, photographer and Rai's son, said. 

The prolific photographer, a protege of Henri Cartier-Bresson, ...