The Photographer

[rhythmbandit]

The Photographer: Into war-torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders

The Photographer was published in English by First Second books in May 2009, but I only recently borrowed it from my library (libraries are awesome). Like some of my favorite comic books (Palestine, Barefoot Gen, Persepolis, Maus), it's a historical autobio. Middle Eastern history always confuses me, but this book does a good job of explaining what was going on in 1986 Afghanistan. I know there's not much of a demand for this kind of work here, but it was such a good book that I just had to share it.



Our narrator: Didier Lefèvre, a French photojournalist who goes to Afghanistan in the summer of 1986. He's there to document a Médecins Sans Frontières (aka Doctors Without Borders, MSF for short) expedition as they travel into the country, giving aid to those affected by the war. Didier meets the group in Peshawar, Pakistan. To the east of Afghanistan, Pakistan offered (and still offers, I believe) refuge to hundreds of thousands of Afghans fleeing from the war.



Massoud, the Lion of Panjshir, was a resistance leader.



He explains that the group's mission is to reach a "small field hospital" (aka an empty house) they used on previous expeditions, and set up another hospital farther along. At the time, the Soviets and the gov't army were in control of the roads, so the group had to travel by foot through the mountains and around sentry posts. They expect it will take three weeks to get there. Unlike the MSF team, Didier didn't know any of the language or customs of the area. While final preparations are being made, he acquaints himself with the city and its people.



This guy is awesome, he should have been a movie star or something. I don't know about you but I would not try to swindle him when selling my donkeys.



Context for this next page: Didier just took a horse for a test ride, and it almost ran away with him holding on for dear life.



Juliette, the leader of the MSF group, grew up in Afghanistan with her parents, who did a lot of work helping people in Afghanistan. Here she is discussing trip logistics with the Afghan leaders, not an easy task.



The caravan horses and donkeys aren't treated with much respect. In a rough place like this, human survival is the top priority.



We get to the first operation, and the outlook isn't good.



And a final word on ones and twos in Afghanistan.


Man, thank god for indoor plumbing. And toilet paper. Now if I could just get a bidet...

Years after his return to France, Didier told his story to his friend and artist Emmanuel Guibert, and they decided to make it into a book. Sadly, Didier passed away in 2007 at the age of 49, just after the last volume of Le Photographe was published in France.

That's almost 11 pages out of 260. It's hard to sum up a story like this, but I hope you liked it and you "check it out", at least at the library. I'll definitely be adding it to my collection.

story and photographs by Didier Lefèvre
illustrations by Emmanuel Guibert
colors and design by Frédéric Lemercier
translation/adaptation by Alexis Siegel
published in New York by First Second
Persian-language lettering done by Marjane Satrapi

Comments

[v_various]

I will be checking it out, I'm requesting it online when I get home tonight (I can never remember my library card number at work)

Thanks for posting this.

[skywaterblue]

You reminded me I meant to pick this up. Thank you. More graphic novels need to be posted to this comm.

[houbanaut]

Thanks for sharing this. Yeah, it's not the sort of thing that usually gets a ton of response from this community, but I for one appreciate it. That bit with the negotiating via finger pressure in the grip of a handshake is just fascinating. (Reminds me a bit of the secret Bene Gesserit sign languages in Dune.)

I spent a good few minutes paging through this book in the store a while back. I don't remember why I didn't pick it up; the price, maybe, or the not-so-attractive photo-traced art style. (And for a prestige release like this, I wish the lettering was prettier.) It definitely seems interesting, though, so I'll make a mental note of it for the next time.

[pseudo_tsuga]

Definitely going my to-buy-when-I-have-money list.

[tavella]

This is really neat; the combo of photographs and comic art are unusual. The art style almost reminds me of a semi-photrealistic Tintin.

[roily_rogue]

Very interested in this. And I actually like this kind of art, when it's done right, which I feel it is here. It feels very down to earth and "honest", the simplified facial expressions are well-rendered, capturing the personalities in a way that makes me fond of the characters.

[wizardru]

Wow. That's some impressive stuff.

I need to hunt this down.

[lamashtar]

The photos look so old timey! And my god, that one looks like Errol Flynn, donkey wrangler..