Invisible Photographer Asia

Invisible Photographer Asia Photography & Visual Arts in Asia since 2000 - Website: http://invisiblephotographer.asia | Twitter: https://twitter.com/InvisPhotogAsia

Invisible Ph t grapher Asia (IPA) - Photography and Visual Arts in Asia. While based in Singapore, IPA‘s platform and area of interest cover all countries in Asia. About This page
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C.P.R. from our workshop archives.
06/07/2026

C.P.R. from our workshop archives.

Excerpts from ’s interview with .official published on in 2012.HOW DOES A YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHER LEARN TO SEE LIKE YOU?Ther...
02/05/2026

Excerpts from ’s interview with .official published on in 2012.

HOW DOES A YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHER LEARN TO SEE LIKE YOU?

There’s a very simple sharing of the process that I do. I tell them you go to a situation, you see something, take a picture and you come away. When I go to a situation, I see something interesting, and I see the enormity and the size of it, and the complexity of it, and I say “Yes God, you’ve shown me this but it’s not enough for me.” So he says “Alright.” Then I keep walking, then he shows me something more complex and bigger. I say “Yes God, It’s nice. But it’s still not enough for me.” So I go on and on and I don’t accept it, and then he knows this child of his is very demanding and restless. And then he opens up and shows me something I have never experienced before. Then I take a picture and say “Thank you God.”

I say you youngsters go and grab it right away and come back happy. So God is happy that the child is happy. But this child is never happy. (Laughs) So this is how it works for me.

SO ARE YOU VERY RELIGIOUS YOURSELF?

Hmmm. Not religious but I have my Guruji. And my Guruji is like unbelievable energy. I have been with him the last 6-7 years. But I have similar affinity for Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism or Christianity. When people ask me what is your faith? I say that my faith lies in the eyes of the people that I photograph.

LET’S TALK ABOUT CINEMATOGRAPHY. HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED IT AND MAKING FILMS?

Well, now it’s too late for me. (Laughs)

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE.

Maybe, at one time I had this feeling that I should do some documentary film-making in this country.

IT WOULD BE A LOGICAL SUGGESTION GIVEN YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY, RIGHT?

But it’s a different ball game. And to indulge in everything that you think is interesting is not a good idea.

YOU ALWAYS SAY YOU WANT TO CAPTURE THE WHOLE OF INDIA IN THAT ONE SINGLE PHOTOGRAPH WHICH KIND OF EXPLAINS YOUR COMPLEX, MULTI-LAYERED PHOTOGRAPHS. MOVING PICTURES MIGHT BE THE SOLUTION.

Listen, when I come back to this planet next time I might consider doing that. But right now I don’t think I have the time and capability to do so.

~|~~

RIP Raghu Rai.

Excerpts from ’s interview with .official published on in 2012.KEVIN:SO IF YOU HAD A FRIEND WHO TOLD YOU HIS SON HAD ‘G...
01/05/2026

Excerpts from ’s interview with .official published on in 2012.

KEVIN:
SO IF YOU HAD A FRIEND WHO TOLD YOU HIS SON HAD ‘GONE PHOTOGRAPHER’ AS YOUR FATHER DID, WHAT WOULD YOUR REPLY BE?

RAGHU RAI:
Yes. (Laughs) So I would say Wonderful. You see we need poets, we need passionate people, we need mad people to bring about a certain sense of balance and curiosity in this world.

YOUR BROTHER AND SON ARE PHOTOGRAPHERS AS WELL. IT WAS YOUR BROTHER WHO INTRODUCED YOU TO PHOTOGRAPHY RIGHT?

That’s right.

SO I GUESS THE QUESTION IS WHO IS THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHER OUT OF THE 3 OF YOU?

No, this is not fair. (Laughs) This is not a fair question. It’s up to people to judge and say. I can’t say that. That’s not fair.

YOU PROBABLY GET ASKED THIS QUESTION QUITE A LOT – YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH BRESSON.

You see Bresson was a great man and a great human being also. And let me tell you, unlike some others, even if he saw one good picture from you, he would say “Wow, very good.” And he’ll keep in touch also. He was a very basic, humble human being. To him, everybody mattered.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FEELINGS ABOUT HIS LAST DAYS WHEN HE DROPPED AND DISMISSED PHOTOGRAPHY.

That’s his choice. But the guy had such a massive body of work and a huge journey into creativity in photography that he must have felt he had touched every corner of it. (Laughs) And he feels this is enough for him. That’s his choice you know.

I think it was in 2001 or 2002, we were in Paris. I met him, me and my wife, and he said he was going to Arles, South of France where his farm was. I told him we were planning to go to Arles Festival. He said “Oh really? Why don’t you come to my home and spend the day with us?” So we went to spend the day with him. And by 3 o’clock after a long lunch and everything, he says “Raghu, I have to go to a friend’s wedding and take some pictures and I’ll just come back. Can you wait for me for an hour?” I said sure. (Laughs) He picks up his camera, goes and attends his friend’s wedding, takes some pictures and comes back happily. And he was also doing his paintings and drawings and whatever else.

Excerpts from ’s interview with .official published on in 2012.KEVIN:WHAT ARE SOME YOU HAVE FACED AND HOW HAVE YOU DEAL...
29/04/2026

Excerpts from ’s interview with .official published on in 2012.

KEVIN:
WHAT ARE SOME YOU HAVE FACED AND HOW HAVE YOU DEALT WITH THEM?

RAGHU RAI:
You tell me the criticisms about me because I wouldn’t know because the people won’t tell me. (Laughs)

YOU MEAN YOU AREN’T AWARE OF ANY CRITICISMS YOU MIGHT HAVE HAD?

Hmmm. There was one time in the eighties when people used to say I organized my pictures. Which was also correct to some extent because being in photojournalism and feature stories, you wanted to put certain people in their context and things like that. But then some of the pictures I took which were very spontaneous and very powerful, sometimes people ask me “how did you handle this one?” So that was great I thought. I said “Wow, that you should think I’m that brilliant, I promise you that my imagination, my intuition and my ideas can think of such things and then put them together. I must be some great guy.” (Laughs)

So then I realized, I said now I should be so pure about it – that the flow of any given situation should not be tampered with. So I became even more purist and intuitive about things.

And otherwise, when you become too successful, people say “Oh yes, you know because he travelled so much and he has these friends there so he gets everywhere.” So I say “Thank you very much.” (Laughs)

IS IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO TAKE A PORTRAIT OF SOMEONE YOU MAY NOT NECESSARILY HAVE ADMIRATION FOR?

You see I don’t have to admire every person to photograph them. I mean if the person is very strong and controversial, they are a great subject matter for me. Like Indira Gandhi, I didn’t agree with many things she was doing you know. But she was the strongest and longest Prime Minister who ruled this country and affected the lives of millions of people.

Excerpts from ’s interview with .official published on in 2012.KEVIN:IN A 2006 INTERVIEW WITH ANIT KAUL BASU, YOU MENTI...
29/04/2026

Excerpts from ’s interview with .official published on in 2012.

KEVIN:
IN A 2006 INTERVIEW WITH ANIT KAUL BASU, YOU MENTIONED YOU LEFT INDIA TODAY AFTER 10 YEARS BECAUSE AS YOU QUOTE “EVERYONE STARTED TO FEEL SECURE. I KNEW I HAD TO MOVE.” TELL US MORE ABOUT LEAVING AND THE SAID ‘NEED FOR INSECURITY’?

RAGHU RAI
You see the important part is that we tend to aim for something. Like India Today, I joined them in their formative years when it wasn’t really about whether it was going to be a news magazine or a touristic kind of magazine. And then we changed, and India Today was the first magazine to establish itself as a very important fortnightly news magazine, which was expected. But then what happened is you find that sloth – I and everybody else. And you become comfortable there. And I don’t believe in sloth. Because the fights must go on. So this was basically the reason, and people expected me to produce certain kinds of work, and I don’t believe in any kind of work. I believe in total madness and freshness. That’s the way I want to live. And I’m not here to serve certain levels of sensitivity and requirements.

WITH YOUR LONG HISTORY AS A PHOTOGRAPHER, DO YOU STILL GET SURPRISED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS, WHETHER YOURS OR SOMEONE ELSE’S?

Without surprise, life is no fun. I mean It all works sometimes you look at your own work and say “Oh my God, when did this happen?” (Laughs) Sometimes things happen beyond your planning and anticipation, and these moments, they are the surprises that enrich anyone’s lives.

Revolution in Burma,
12/03/2026

Revolution in Burma,

“The decade of the 1980’s allied all factions fighting the Marcos Dictatorship. Armed revolution was at its zenith and t...
28/02/2026

“The decade of the 1980’s allied all factions fighting the Marcos Dictatorship. Armed revolution was at its zenith and the streets smelted of teargas and homemade contact bombs, there was no more fence sitting, choose a side or be drowned by the wave of protests. It was the exact moment that I arrived in photojournalism.” Photographs & text by Alex Baluyut published through the years on IPA website.
~~~
I had the privilege of engaging in conversation with Alex many times having published many of his photo essay and text on IPA. Aside from all his pioneering photographic accolades in Philippines, what impressed me most in his most recent years was Alex putting down his camera for cooking pots and pans to feed the needy and distressed in disaster zones with his Art Relief Mobile Kitchen.

Rest in peace Mr. Baluyut!

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