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The Photographer: Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders
by Emmanuel Guibert
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Synopses & Reviews In 1986, Afghanistan was torn apart by a war with the Soviet Union. This graphic novel/photo-journal is a record of one reporters arduous and dangerous journey through Afghanistan, accompanying the Doctors Without Borders. Didier Lefevres photography, paired with the art of Emmanuel Guibert, tells the powerful story of a mission undertaken by men and women dedicated to mending the wounds of war. Review: "This documentary graphic novel brings together starkly beautiful black and white photographs taken by Lefvre, intimate drawings by Guibert, skillful design by Lemercier and a vibrant translation and thorough introduction by Siegel. In 1986, photographer Lefvre was hired by Mdecins sans Frontires (MSF; Doctors Without Borders), to document a mission into northern Afghanistan. Along the way, he and the doctors, guides and interpreters with whom he traveled endured physical hardship and the fracas of war. In one memorable scene, the group must cross an open plateau where Russian planes fired on the previous MSF caravan. Photographs acting as panels emphasize the vast openness of the plateau, while drawings allow a glimpse of the small human gestures of the travelers. Arriving on the other side of the plateau, they reach a wooded area 'where, two years ago, they buried the man who didn't make it.' This revelation is punctuated by a large photograph of the burial mound under the trees, the mix of drawings and photographs heightening the emotional impact. Originally published in three volumes in France, the book has sold more than 250,000 copies there, and the reach of this magnificent work promises to extend far beyond the graphic novel community." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review: In 1986, the French photojournalist Didier Lefevre joined a Doctors Without Borders mission to Afghanistan. It was a dangerous place even then — a country where the Cold War had turned viciously hot after the Soviet invasion of 1979. Lefevre stayed only a few months, but beset by disease, brutal weather and extortionist police, he barely survived the experience. Still, he brought back 4,000 photographs ... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) from his trip and returned to Afghanistan seven more times before his death in 2007. Originally published in three French volumes between 2003 and 2006, "The Photographer" is a riveting account of Lefevre's first journey and his experiences in Zaragandara, the Afghan town where Doctors Without Borders set up a makeshift hospital. Lefevre's blisteringly forceful black-and-white photographs, and sometimes his contact sheets, appear on nearly every page of the book. So does Emmanuel Guibert's artwork. The cartoonist adapted his friend's memories of the trip into comics form, filling in the spaces between photos with sequences that bind the story together (and providing, understandably, almost every image we see of Lefevre himself) and explain what was happening at less photogenic moments. Guibert develops a new visual style for each project he draws: He's also the artist behind last year's "Alan's War," another superb piece of oral history in comics form. Here his approach is rough and blobby, clearly modeled on the contours of photographs but sparely rendered and showing spatters of ink. Seen next to Lefevre's finely shaded photos, Guibert's idiomatic line work emphasizes that what we're seeing in the comics sections of "The Photographer" isn't quite real: It's history recollected and reconstructed. That's the formal paradox that drives the book. Lefevre came along on the mission so that he could bring back images that would bear witness to what was happening in Afghanistan, but the photographs that he published immediately afterward couldn't say nearly as much as does the combination of his work and the approximations and memories Guibert has woven around and through it. A cartoonist has more power over narrative than a photographer, and some of Lefevre's pictures make more sense in the context of a narrative, including a haunting shot of a horse groom who'd accidentally gotten separated from a caravan and survived to tell his story: The scene's pacing and text deepen its meaning by making evident exactly how close he'd come to doom. Much of "The Photographer" is fascinating on the strength of Lefevre's experiences alone. He recounts learning to pack perfectly stuffed, watertight boxes, getting outfitted for Afghan-style clothing (and buying a woman's chadri) to avoid arousing suspicion, crossing the border into Afghanistan by a hazardous off-road path to avoid the Russian military. The middle section of the book depicts the work the doctors had come to do, but also Lefevre's discovery of the bizarre cultural and economic realities of war zones — including the fact that the Afghan medical team could occasionally arrange for assistance from Russian doctors. Sometimes, the precision and emotional wallop of Lefevre's photographs cut more deeply than words or drawings could: There's a nearly unbearable sequence of a wounded child having her burn cleaned, and remarkable images of a couple of Afghan soldiers laughing about their injuries and of a local chief posing with a gun and some plastic flowers. But this is as much the show of Guibert and colorist/designer Frederic Lemercier as it is Lefevre's, particularly in the book's final third, which concerns the photographer's disastrous solo journey back from Zaragandara as he was running out of film. The artists take over altogether for a long, dramatic sequence in which Lefevre and his horse, abandoned by their escorts, struggle up a mountain in a blizzard as the sky darkens. For a few pages, Guibert's scratchy renderings are half-obliterated by patches of white; then all we see are spotty silhouettes against a darkening green background for a few pages, until Lefevre abandons hope and pulls out his camera. At last, we see what he feared would be his final photographs: a series of harrowing, low-angle shots of the exhausted horse; and the largest image in the book, a two-page spread of the gorgeous, murderous Afghan landscape, its foreground a blur and its background receding into the weather. Douglas Wolk is the author of "Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean." Reviewed by Douglas Wolk, Washington Post Book World (Copyright 2006 Washington Post Book World Service/Washington Post Writers Group)
(hide most of this review)About the Author Emmanuel Guiberts most recent book for First Second was the critically acclaimed Alans War, the memoir of a WWII G.I. His close friendship with Didier Lefevre inspired him to combine art and photography to create this momentous book.
Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9781596433755
- Subtitle:
- Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders
- Author:
- Guibert, Emmanuel
- Author:
- Lefevre, Didier
- Author:
- Lemercier, Frederic
- Publisher:
- First Second
- Subject:
- POL041000
- Subject:
- Ngos (Non-Governmental Organizations)
- Subject:
- Modern - 21st Century
- Subject:
- Military - Pictorial
- Subject:
- Photoessays & Documentaries
- Subject:
- Nonfiction
- Subject:
- Military - Other
- Subject:
- Medecins sans frontieres (Association)
- Subject:
- Lefevre, Didier
- Edition Description:
- Trade Paper
- Publication Date:
- May 2009
- Binding:
- Paperback
- Grade Level:
- General/trade
- Language:
- English
- Illustrations:
- Y
- Pages:
- 267
- Dimensions:
- 11.60x9.10x1.10 in. 2.85 lbs.
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