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Le Photographe #1-3
Der Fotograf
Afghanistan im Jahre 1986: Zwischen den Fronten der Sowjetunion und der Mudschaheddin begleitet und dokumentiert der Fotograf Didier Lefèvre ein Trupp der Organisation Ärzte ohne Grenzen bei ihrer Arbeit im Krieg. Die schwierigen Arbeitsbedingungen hält er dabei ebenso fest wie rührende menschliche Erfahrungen, entgegnete Feindseligkeiten und sein beschwerlicher, allein bestrittener Rückweg nach Pakistan. Mit DER FOTOGRAF gelang dem Comiczeichner Emmanuel Guibert und dem Fotografen Didier Lefèvre ein internationaler Überraschungserfolg, die Einzelbände wurden über 10'000 mal verkauft. Nun erscheint die Trilogie komplett und neu gestaltet in einem Band.
264 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
90 people are currently reading
8509 people want to read
About the author
Emmanuel Guibert
159 books146 followersEmmanuel Guibert has written a great many graphic novels for readers young and old, among them the Sardine in Outer Space series and The Professor’s Daughter with Joann Sfar.
In 1994, a chance encounter with an American World War II veteran named Alan Cope marked the beginning of a deep friendship and the birth of a great biographical epic.
Another of Guibert's recent works is The Photographer. Showered with awards, translated around the world and soon to come from First Second books, it relates a Doctors Without Borders mission in 1980’s Afghanistan through the eyes of a great reporter, the late Didier Lefèvre.
Guibert lives in Paris with his wife and daughter.
In 1994, a chance encounter with an American World War II veteran named Alan Cope marked the beginning of a deep friendship and the birth of a great biographical epic.
Another of Guibert's recent works is The Photographer. Showered with awards, translated around the world and soon to come from First Second books, it relates a Doctors Without Borders mission in 1980’s Afghanistan through the eyes of a great reporter, the late Didier Lefèvre.
Guibert lives in Paris with his wife and daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 495 reviews
August 19, 2024
First I would like to thank all of my GR friends who recommended this book - this is the reason that I am so glad to have your friendship and suggestions. This book moved me in so many different ways; but at the core of the book are the black and white photographs taken by Didier Lefèvre as he struggles to keep up with a Médecins sans Frontières caravan trekking across war torn Afghanistan in 1986. The juxtaposition of photos by Lefèvre and illustrations by Emmanuel Guibert weave seamlessly; an overlay of starkness that is reminiscent of Francisco Goya's Black Paintings - the damp feeling of despair weighing on your consciousness as you struggle to grasp the no exit situation the poor people in this global game of chess find they are in against any choice they have been asked to make. Lefèvre (by chance and choice) finds that this assignment is not only a journey across a country; it is also a journey within that will challenge all that he has held dear. The last twenty pages will impact you in a way that will stay with you for a very long time - highest recommendation.
December 28, 2010
Non-fiction seems so easy some times. All you have to do is lead an interesting life and it's all taken care of for you: plot, characterization, twists, insights. All that remains is the compiling and editing, which is no minute task, but there is a sort of unpredictable depth in non-fiction which is hard to replicate. Many have tried, but verisimilitude is the mark of the master.
Here we have a foreigner--a Frenchman--who does not even speak the language, going on a very real modern adventure into the heart of a dangerous, forbidding, war-torn country. Here at my computer, safe and comfortable, it can be easy to forget that such adventures still exist out there, in the world, for those brave enough to grasp them.
We read our fantasies, romances, and suspense stories forgetting there are people who actually live these lives. Our small, unprepared hero wanders on tired legs with a pack-horse by his side, meeting tribal chieftains, warlords, bandits, and caravans. Overhead, Russian helicopters pass by like dragons, sending all who hear them running for cover from their merciless, capricious breaths of fire. There are long stretches where the land is blighted with mines, and all who leave the path risk being lost forever.
People believe in their religions in a surprisingly literal way, in the way which none of us could ever replicate, for their world is not one of surrounding doubts and differing opinions. Didier expresses the difficulty of this gulf: admitting he doubts existence of god, he'd hardly be believed, inciting either derision or violence.
But, of course, it is ethnocentric folly to imagine that the Afghanis are in any way a glimpse into 'primitive life', as it was long ago. They are a nation and a culture of the modern world, as uninformed or poverty-stricken as any individual member may be.
Didier and the doctor's are here to help these people, to confront this cultural conflict, and trite as it sounds, what is remarkable is not the differences they find with the locals, but the points of similarity. They work together and communicate, and despite the great differences, they find companionship, friendship, and some remarkable insights.
It perplexes me to think that reading the account of a foreigner, new to the country, ignorant of the language, naive about the culture, is able to provide a deeper and more lasting insight into this culture and the joy of its people than a fictional outing like 'The Kite Runner', even though the latter was written by a born Afghan.
Yet that book shows all the things that make realist fiction so fraught: the author is always tempted to include not only his experiences, but his own philosophies and conclusions, often through romanticized portrayals and overloaded symbolism. Thus it soon becomes a politicized mess, all the insights it might have had being lost in the author's message, showing little more knowledge of the country than one might have gotten from the past few decades of world news.
Perhaps it shouldn't surprise me that an outsider would be able to reveal so much, especially as he transmits to us the understanding of other outsiders who have since become enmeshed with the culture. Bias and blindness to those things most important to us are common threads in humanity, which must be constantly fought against lest they overtake us unawares. One approaching a culture from the outside still has biases, but uninformed biases are easier to shake then those which are bred in.
Didier's portrayal is kind, sometimes bordering on politically correct, though he never excuses the ignorance or meaness of individuals, expressing his frustration and disgust with the prevalent violence. But the book is also full of respect and gratitude for those to whom he connected, and with his enchantment with the land and its people, both stark, beautiful, and yet welcoming.
The form of the book is curious: Didier's photographs are interwoven with comic panels, creating a visual narrative of the journey and his experiences. The art is decidedly french, with sparse, even gestural lines and simple, expressive characters. Didier compares his journeys to his childhood memories of Tintin, and there is surely a parallel in this young Frenchman, lost in a foreign land, meeting native people friendly and menacing, escaping one danger only to slip into another, grateful for a mouthful of water, a corner to sleep in, or a smiling face.
But then such real adventures are always compelling, especially when accompanied by evocative photos. The story of the West and the Mid-East is still central to us, still unsure, alternately budding and withering, making this tale especially poignant; so much so that it takes a moment to realize that the events described herein occured thirty years ago.
There is always some fictionalization, some coyness in the portrayals even in nonfiction. The author still decides what we are shown, what is highlighted; such is the nature of journalism, or of storytelling. Taking this tale with a grain of salt, it is still inviting, mysterious, surprising, bearing the mark of verisimilitude, and I am tempted to accept it, as it is, if only because to falsify it has proven to be beyond the skill of most writers, even those with the knowledge required to create it.
My Suggested Reading In Comics
Here we have a foreigner--a Frenchman--who does not even speak the language, going on a very real modern adventure into the heart of a dangerous, forbidding, war-torn country. Here at my computer, safe and comfortable, it can be easy to forget that such adventures still exist out there, in the world, for those brave enough to grasp them.
We read our fantasies, romances, and suspense stories forgetting there are people who actually live these lives. Our small, unprepared hero wanders on tired legs with a pack-horse by his side, meeting tribal chieftains, warlords, bandits, and caravans. Overhead, Russian helicopters pass by like dragons, sending all who hear them running for cover from their merciless, capricious breaths of fire. There are long stretches where the land is blighted with mines, and all who leave the path risk being lost forever.
People believe in their religions in a surprisingly literal way, in the way which none of us could ever replicate, for their world is not one of surrounding doubts and differing opinions. Didier expresses the difficulty of this gulf: admitting he doubts existence of god, he'd hardly be believed, inciting either derision or violence.
But, of course, it is ethnocentric folly to imagine that the Afghanis are in any way a glimpse into 'primitive life', as it was long ago. They are a nation and a culture of the modern world, as uninformed or poverty-stricken as any individual member may be.
Didier and the doctor's are here to help these people, to confront this cultural conflict, and trite as it sounds, what is remarkable is not the differences they find with the locals, but the points of similarity. They work together and communicate, and despite the great differences, they find companionship, friendship, and some remarkable insights.
It perplexes me to think that reading the account of a foreigner, new to the country, ignorant of the language, naive about the culture, is able to provide a deeper and more lasting insight into this culture and the joy of its people than a fictional outing like 'The Kite Runner', even though the latter was written by a born Afghan.
Yet that book shows all the things that make realist fiction so fraught: the author is always tempted to include not only his experiences, but his own philosophies and conclusions, often through romanticized portrayals and overloaded symbolism. Thus it soon becomes a politicized mess, all the insights it might have had being lost in the author's message, showing little more knowledge of the country than one might have gotten from the past few decades of world news.
Perhaps it shouldn't surprise me that an outsider would be able to reveal so much, especially as he transmits to us the understanding of other outsiders who have since become enmeshed with the culture. Bias and blindness to those things most important to us are common threads in humanity, which must be constantly fought against lest they overtake us unawares. One approaching a culture from the outside still has biases, but uninformed biases are easier to shake then those which are bred in.
Didier's portrayal is kind, sometimes bordering on politically correct, though he never excuses the ignorance or meaness of individuals, expressing his frustration and disgust with the prevalent violence. But the book is also full of respect and gratitude for those to whom he connected, and with his enchantment with the land and its people, both stark, beautiful, and yet welcoming.
The form of the book is curious: Didier's photographs are interwoven with comic panels, creating a visual narrative of the journey and his experiences. The art is decidedly french, with sparse, even gestural lines and simple, expressive characters. Didier compares his journeys to his childhood memories of Tintin, and there is surely a parallel in this young Frenchman, lost in a foreign land, meeting native people friendly and menacing, escaping one danger only to slip into another, grateful for a mouthful of water, a corner to sleep in, or a smiling face.
But then such real adventures are always compelling, especially when accompanied by evocative photos. The story of the West and the Mid-East is still central to us, still unsure, alternately budding and withering, making this tale especially poignant; so much so that it takes a moment to realize that the events described herein occured thirty years ago.
There is always some fictionalization, some coyness in the portrayals even in nonfiction. The author still decides what we are shown, what is highlighted; such is the nature of journalism, or of storytelling. Taking this tale with a grain of salt, it is still inviting, mysterious, surprising, bearing the mark of verisimilitude, and I am tempted to accept it, as it is, if only because to falsify it has proven to be beyond the skill of most writers, even those with the knowledge required to create it.
My Suggested Reading In Comics
August 19, 2018
A stunning work of beauty. The graphic structure is magnificent, to the point that I was often spending more than 5 minutes just looking at a single page, to absorb all the details. But also in terms of the content, this is a true modern day adventure with substance. The main charachter's ineptitude often sticks out, but in the end it's the same ineptitude that most of us westerners would display in those circumstances, and that makes it easier to get drawn into the narration and live the adventure through his skin. And you can learn something in the process.
I agree with many reviewers that it was silly for Didiere (Rest In Peace) to want to go back to Pakistan by himself, especially given that what drove that decision was a comment by a teammate who said "I feel like the real work will start when you leave". Paraphrasing that in the language of apes, that comment was really: "Didiere, you are here as a tourist, while I am here doing the real tough work, therefore I am better than you". That's not important per se, but it made me reflect on our human nature, and how - consciously or unconsciously - we cannot escape our desire to see ourselves "surpass" the others, to be on some higher level in our own personal narrative of our life. Even among people who are doing incredibly useful work, like MSF, everyone needs to find their own "illusion of superiority" in order to feel good about themselves. Another example of this phenomenon, as observed in the book, is when one of the doctors tells Didiere that he does not want to go back to a "cushy" job in a "cushy" French hospital. As if doctors in Western hospitals were not just as useful as MSF doctors. Same human nature, right there, over and over: the need for an "illusion of superiority". And what is yours?
I agree with many reviewers that it was silly for Didiere (Rest In Peace) to want to go back to Pakistan by himself, especially given that what drove that decision was a comment by a teammate who said "I feel like the real work will start when you leave". Paraphrasing that in the language of apes, that comment was really: "Didiere, you are here as a tourist, while I am here doing the real tough work, therefore I am better than you". That's not important per se, but it made me reflect on our human nature, and how - consciously or unconsciously - we cannot escape our desire to see ourselves "surpass" the others, to be on some higher level in our own personal narrative of our life. Even among people who are doing incredibly useful work, like MSF, everyone needs to find their own "illusion of superiority" in order to feel good about themselves. Another example of this phenomenon, as observed in the book, is when one of the doctors tells Didiere that he does not want to go back to a "cushy" job in a "cushy" French hospital. As if doctors in Western hospitals were not just as useful as MSF doctors. Same human nature, right there, over and over: the need for an "illusion of superiority". And what is yours?
October 1, 2017
A 300 plus page tome of a book, told through written text, graphic memoir (by graphic novelist Guilbert) and photographs (by Didier Lefèvre), of a photographer committed to social causes, documenting (among other things) a Doctors Without Borders mission in Afghanistan. Some "graphic" photos and drawings, as one might expect, some upsetting, but also a lot of just documenting the trip. Guibert is Lefèvre's close friend, so this is a tribute to his friend as well as a look at the relationship between drawing and photography and writing, documenting the work there in various ways, and about the horrors of war there without "taking sides" in the conflict. You get to see close ups of the people there in places far from the cities, and you get to see admirable people trying to get stories out about the process under incredible conditions.
The book is not sensational; it's in fact mundane in many respects, page after page, interspersed with some painful moments. My biggest problem with the book is that most of the photos are too small. You get the feeling in some of the presentation of film strips/comic strips, lots of small images, comics journalism at a fast pace, not fancy, and that's okay, it's not Hollywood, these projects, it's important work for human kind, BUT: I'd wish for some more large photographs and/or drawings. It's nevertheless quite haunting, in some ways.
The book is not sensational; it's in fact mundane in many respects, page after page, interspersed with some painful moments. My biggest problem with the book is that most of the photos are too small. You get the feeling in some of the presentation of film strips/comic strips, lots of small images, comics journalism at a fast pace, not fancy, and that's okay, it's not Hollywood, these projects, it's important work for human kind, BUT: I'd wish for some more large photographs and/or drawings. It's nevertheless quite haunting, in some ways.
October 27, 2020
4/5stars
FASCINATING graphic narrative - super interesting use of comic and photography
FASCINATING graphic narrative - super interesting use of comic and photography
September 6, 2016
A very enjoyable graphic novel, and one of my favorites that I've read. It tells the story of Didier Lefevre, a photographer who accompanies a Doctors Without Borders team into 1980s Afghanistan to set up a hospital during the Soviet-Afghan War. It's filled with interesting cultural observations and anecdotes and beautiful mountain shots. I was not overly impressed by the photography, to be honest, but I know very little about photography.
It suffers a little from being about the least interesting member of the party. That feels like a mean way to phrase it - sorry, Didier!. The photographer himself is a perfectly interesting, but he's surrounded by a fascinating team of doctors who have spent large swaths of their lives in an out of Afghanistan. It's hard not to want a bit more of that, especially about the woman who led the team despite a being in a heavily patriarchal area of the world. Didier can also be a bit frustrating at times, particularly due to one choice made near the story's end.
Still, a really interesting read that illuminates Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan War and the admirable work done by Doctors without Borders.
It suffers a little from being about the least interesting member of the party. That feels like a mean way to phrase it - sorry, Didier!. The photographer himself is a perfectly interesting, but he's surrounded by a fascinating team of doctors who have spent large swaths of their lives in an out of Afghanistan. It's hard not to want a bit more of that, especially about the woman who led the team despite a being in a heavily patriarchal area of the world. Didier can also be a bit frustrating at times, particularly due to one choice made near the story's end.
Still, a really interesting read that illuminates Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan War and the admirable work done by Doctors without Borders.
July 7, 2023
Didier Lefèvre, fotógrafo francés, marcha a Afganistán en julio de 1986, para documentar la misión humanitaria de una delegación de Médicos Sin Fronteras, un periplo en caravana desde Paquistán hasta Afganistán en plena guerra entre soviéticos y muyahidines.
De las cuatro mil fotos que Didier sacó, sólo se publicaron seis, a doble página, el 28 de diciembre de 1986, en el diario Libération. La recompensa profesional a su viaje.
En cuanto al relato de la
misión, quedó para los amigos y familiares cercanos, entre los que se encontraba Emmanuel Guibert.
Me cuesta realmente hacer reseñas sobre este tipo de libros porque ¿cómo se puntúa el sufrimiento de un ser humano?
Esta novela es un testimonio gráfico, fotografías reales incluidas, del difícil viaje de ida, estancia y regreso de Didier. Una historia representativa de las condiciones de riesgo y en las situaciones más extremas en las que trabajan los colaboradores de estas instituciones humanitarias.
De las cuatro mil fotos que Didier sacó, sólo se publicaron seis, a doble página, el 28 de diciembre de 1986, en el diario Libération. La recompensa profesional a su viaje.
En cuanto al relato de la
misión, quedó para los amigos y familiares cercanos, entre los que se encontraba Emmanuel Guibert.
Me cuesta realmente hacer reseñas sobre este tipo de libros porque ¿cómo se puntúa el sufrimiento de un ser humano?
Esta novela es un testimonio gráfico, fotografías reales incluidas, del difícil viaje de ida, estancia y regreso de Didier. Una historia representativa de las condiciones de riesgo y en las situaciones más extremas en las que trabajan los colaboradores de estas instituciones humanitarias.
March 29, 2020
Gerçek bir yaşanmışlık nasıl derecelendirilebilir ki? Çok gerçek, çok etkileyiciydi... Düşüncelere sevk etmesi kaçınılmaz. Dünyada en korkutucu, savaşılması gereken en öncelikli şey cahillik, eğitimsizlik...
August 6, 2009
Based on their title alone, it makes sense as to why Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999. But I have to admit I knew very little of the organization itself and the true challenges of their work. It would have been far too simplistic to say it was a group of committed doctors who traveled to different global hotspots to administer medical aid. I knew it would be far more complicated than just voluntary service, but it wasn't until I read THE PHOTOGRAPHER that I truly ascertained the herculean mission that these brave doctors undertake.
Set in Afghanistan during the height of the Afghan-Russian War in 1986, THE PHOTOGRAPHER is a diary of sorts of Didier Lefevre, a French photojournalist who is coerced by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to document a campaign into the heart of Afghanistan, to deliver medical aid to the local Mujahideen who were fighting against the Russians. With no direct access for humanitarian aid into Afghanistan, the MSF team must trek, by foot, from the Pakistani border into the heart of the conflict.
It is no easy passage, as beyond the physical hurdles of treacherous passes, inhospitable weather, and anarchic tribes, so too must a web of politics and bureaucracy be dealt with. Lefevre, a rookie in foreign affairs in the region, plays witness to the resourcefulness and knack of the MSF doctors as they barter, deal and negotiate their way through warlords, tribesmen and militia. Of even greater challenge is that the crux of the MSF's negotiations are handled by a woman doctor, Juliette, who uses her gender in a male-dominated society as an asset and not a crutch. Didier watches and documents the proceedings with equal fear and admiration, learning more of his cohorts and the Afghan people with each passing day and mile.
After an arduous journey to the heart of the conflict, the MSF doctors set up base camp and immediately begin treating the wounded. Their dedication is beyond description, as they work tirelessly and with limited resources to give medical aid to the forgotten and those left to the wayside to die. They treat men of questionable character, but do not flinch in their responsibilities as caregivers. They treat the young, the old, and the women, all done with very specific care to the traditions and beliefs of the Afghans, despite the fact that the doctors themselves may personally disagree with their patients' ideologies.
The entire journey is recorded through Didier's photographs, presented not as developed prints but rather as contact sheets. The photographs are married with comic book panels that describe the actions away from the photographs, and the synthesis of photographic image to sequential storytelling is remarkable and unlike any war journal ever produced. Where the comic book portions fill in the gaps by challenging our creativity and imaginations to recreate the MSF campaign, the photographs reinforce the gravity and reality of the situation. The use of contact sheets gives an almost cinema-like continuity to the work, and it gives insight to the environment and allows us to get a complete scope of Didier's vision and skill as a photographer. The images, both drawn and photographed, are simply stunning.
This is a work of tremendous impact and significance, highlighting not only the horrors of mankind but also the selflessness of civilization. We see the best and worst of humanity on display, and the book exists entirely within the gray of that spectrum. Constant however is the credo of Médecins Sans Frontières, and the doctors involved never once stray away from their humanitarian objective. In this day in age it is too easy to be critical and cynical of multimillion dollar NGOs, but THE PHOTOGRAPHER is solid, undeniable, photographic proof that the women and men of Médecins Sans Frontières are truly noble and selfless, and moreover deserving of our greatest respect, support and admiration. A simply unforgettable book and experience, and one of the best books of 2009.
Set in Afghanistan during the height of the Afghan-Russian War in 1986, THE PHOTOGRAPHER is a diary of sorts of Didier Lefevre, a French photojournalist who is coerced by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to document a campaign into the heart of Afghanistan, to deliver medical aid to the local Mujahideen who were fighting against the Russians. With no direct access for humanitarian aid into Afghanistan, the MSF team must trek, by foot, from the Pakistani border into the heart of the conflict.
It is no easy passage, as beyond the physical hurdles of treacherous passes, inhospitable weather, and anarchic tribes, so too must a web of politics and bureaucracy be dealt with. Lefevre, a rookie in foreign affairs in the region, plays witness to the resourcefulness and knack of the MSF doctors as they barter, deal and negotiate their way through warlords, tribesmen and militia. Of even greater challenge is that the crux of the MSF's negotiations are handled by a woman doctor, Juliette, who uses her gender in a male-dominated society as an asset and not a crutch. Didier watches and documents the proceedings with equal fear and admiration, learning more of his cohorts and the Afghan people with each passing day and mile.
After an arduous journey to the heart of the conflict, the MSF doctors set up base camp and immediately begin treating the wounded. Their dedication is beyond description, as they work tirelessly and with limited resources to give medical aid to the forgotten and those left to the wayside to die. They treat men of questionable character, but do not flinch in their responsibilities as caregivers. They treat the young, the old, and the women, all done with very specific care to the traditions and beliefs of the Afghans, despite the fact that the doctors themselves may personally disagree with their patients' ideologies.
The entire journey is recorded through Didier's photographs, presented not as developed prints but rather as contact sheets. The photographs are married with comic book panels that describe the actions away from the photographs, and the synthesis of photographic image to sequential storytelling is remarkable and unlike any war journal ever produced. Where the comic book portions fill in the gaps by challenging our creativity and imaginations to recreate the MSF campaign, the photographs reinforce the gravity and reality of the situation. The use of contact sheets gives an almost cinema-like continuity to the work, and it gives insight to the environment and allows us to get a complete scope of Didier's vision and skill as a photographer. The images, both drawn and photographed, are simply stunning.
This is a work of tremendous impact and significance, highlighting not only the horrors of mankind but also the selflessness of civilization. We see the best and worst of humanity on display, and the book exists entirely within the gray of that spectrum. Constant however is the credo of Médecins Sans Frontières, and the doctors involved never once stray away from their humanitarian objective. In this day in age it is too easy to be critical and cynical of multimillion dollar NGOs, but THE PHOTOGRAPHER is solid, undeniable, photographic proof that the women and men of Médecins Sans Frontières are truly noble and selfless, and moreover deserving of our greatest respect, support and admiration. A simply unforgettable book and experience, and one of the best books of 2009.
August 9, 2022
Fotoğrafçı Didier Lefèvre'nin 1986 yılında Sovyetlerle mücahidler arasındaki savaş sırasında Sınır Tanımaz Doktorlar eşliğinde Afganistan’a yaptığı ilk yolculuğun hikayesi.
Her ne kadar Emmanuel Guibert’in çizgileriyle oluşturulmuş gerçek bir hikaye olsa da, Lefèvre'nin fotoğraflarıyla hikayenin gerçekliği ve yaşanan zorluklar daha sert bir şekilde yüzünüze vuruyor. Kitabın ilk iki bölümü, Pakistan’tan Afganistan’a gidiş, zorlu yollar, savaşın açtığı yaralar ve Afganistan’da Sınır Tanımaz Doktorlar’ın yaptıklarına dair hikayeler. Ancak üçüncü bölümde yine Afganistan ve buradaki şartlar anlatılıyor olsa da asıl önce çıkan eve dönme arzusu ve yalnızlık ihtiyacının ne boyutlara ulaşabileceğini gördüğünüz Didier Lefèvre'nin tek başına Pakistan’a dönüş hikayesi.
Hem adı savaş ve karanlık çağ ile özdeşleşmiş Afganistan’ın çok daha farklı bir açısını görmek hem de Sınır Tanımaz Doktorlar’ın ne kadar özel bir topluluk olduğunu görmek için çok kıymetli grafik/foto romanlardan. Oldukça etkilenerek ve fotoğraflarına dalıp giderek, normalden daha uzun bir sürede okuduğum kitaplardan birisi oldu. Çok beğendim. Kitabı okurken gelen mesajlardan baskısı olmadığını öğrendim. Umarım karakarga yayinlari yakın zamanda yeni bir baskı yapar.
Her ne kadar Emmanuel Guibert’in çizgileriyle oluşturulmuş gerçek bir hikaye olsa da, Lefèvre'nin fotoğraflarıyla hikayenin gerçekliği ve yaşanan zorluklar daha sert bir şekilde yüzünüze vuruyor. Kitabın ilk iki bölümü, Pakistan’tan Afganistan’a gidiş, zorlu yollar, savaşın açtığı yaralar ve Afganistan’da Sınır Tanımaz Doktorlar’ın yaptıklarına dair hikayeler. Ancak üçüncü bölümde yine Afganistan ve buradaki şartlar anlatılıyor olsa da asıl önce çıkan eve dönme arzusu ve yalnızlık ihtiyacının ne boyutlara ulaşabileceğini gördüğünüz Didier Lefèvre'nin tek başına Pakistan’a dönüş hikayesi.
Hem adı savaş ve karanlık çağ ile özdeşleşmiş Afganistan’ın çok daha farklı bir açısını görmek hem de Sınır Tanımaz Doktorlar’ın ne kadar özel bir topluluk olduğunu görmek için çok kıymetli grafik/foto romanlardan. Oldukça etkilenerek ve fotoğraflarına dalıp giderek, normalden daha uzun bir sürede okuduğum kitaplardan birisi oldu. Çok beğendim. Kitabı okurken gelen mesajlardan baskısı olmadığını öğrendim. Umarım karakarga yayinlari yakın zamanda yeni bir baskı yapar.
November 5, 2018
The book is a joint-effort between Didier Lefèvre, the eponymous photographer, and Emmanuel Guilbert, the artist. For the assignment described in the book, Lefèvre worked alongside a team from Médicins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders. The journey begins in summer 1985 in Peshawar, Pakistan as Lefèvre meets the team of doctors and nurses who will setting up a hospital in a remote region in Afghanistan. They spend weeks planning their upcoming trek into the war-torn country: obtaining medical supplies, food stores, and finally horses and donkeys, to make the three-week long journey into the mountainous regions of the country. They are escorted by members of the Mujahideen resistance. They avoid the Soviet-held roads and caravan instead through trecherous mountain passes, high altitudes, and swift rivers. Along the way, the team stops and greets/pays respect to local chiefs and are treated to large feasts and warm hospitality. Each town they pass through also offers the chance to hear news about the war-front, troop movements, and to treat the injuries and ailments of the people in the towns. Lefèvre captures many moments on film; his photographs are interspersed with the drawings in the graphic novel.
They reach their destination and immediately begin to set up their "hospital" - a small mudbrick building. Lefèvre marvels at the teams' work and their fortitude to help these people so desperately in need. The wounds are severe and traumatic: burns, bullet wounds, severed limbs/amputations - most from the battlefront or from Soviet bombings. Some of the stories are so heartbreaking, but the team brings such hope.
The book is a stunning piece of literature - a true "snapshot" of life at that time in Afghanistan. The story is recounted by Lefèvre, so you also have several stories about his relationships with the people in the team - Juliette, the strong and independent leader, who knows how to mix with both men and women in this fundamentalist Islamic culture; John, the burly American doctor with a heart of gold; Régis, the anesthesiologist who dreams of opening a winery in sourthern France... and the many Afghans - Mahmud, Najmudin, and the patients who are treated in the team.
They reach their destination and immediately begin to set up their "hospital" - a small mudbrick building. Lefèvre marvels at the teams' work and their fortitude to help these people so desperately in need. The wounds are severe and traumatic: burns, bullet wounds, severed limbs/amputations - most from the battlefront or from Soviet bombings. Some of the stories are so heartbreaking, but the team brings such hope.
The book is a stunning piece of literature - a true "snapshot" of life at that time in Afghanistan. The story is recounted by Lefèvre, so you also have several stories about his relationships with the people in the team - Juliette, the strong and independent leader, who knows how to mix with both men and women in this fundamentalist Islamic culture; John, the burly American doctor with a heart of gold; Régis, the anesthesiologist who dreams of opening a winery in sourthern France... and the many Afghans - Mahmud, Najmudin, and the patients who are treated in the team.
June 11, 2012
Fantastic.
February 22, 2018
A book that packs a punch. A combination of a graphic novel with the photographs taken by Emmanuel Gilbert when he accompanied a Médecins Sans Frontières mission into Afghanistan in 1986. Text, photos and graphics combine to tell of the one month hike into a remote location where MSF is setting a series of clinics. Haunting imagery in a land of seemingly endless beauty but with ruggedness matched to the toughness of its people.
Its the time of the Russian invasion, printed film, no cell phones and the MSF team have to carry everything in and out. The saddest thing is the fighting continues and MSF has grown and grown to meet the never-ending demand for the skills of its dedicated people.
Its the time of the Russian invasion, printed film, no cell phones and the MSF team have to carry everything in and out. The saddest thing is the fighting continues and MSF has grown and grown to meet the never-ending demand for the skills of its dedicated people.
June 13, 2024
Questo reportage fotografico raccoglie gli scatti di Didier Lefèvre del 1986 realizzati al seguito di una missione di Medici Senza Frontiere in Afghanistan. Il paese era in guerra perché era stato invaso dall'Unione Sovietica. Era anche un paese povero, rurale, che viveva in condizioni di "deserto sanitario".
È veramente impressionante vedere le condizioni di lavoro di medici e infermieri ma a colpire è anche la complessità dell'organizzazione logistica, in un paese in cui il territorio è controllato da vari capi e trafficanti locali. Niente è bianco o nero in Afghanistan, giusto e sbagliato si sovrappongono in un'infinita varietà di grigi. E queste mille sfumature si vedono anche nelle belle fotografie in bianco e nero di Lefèvre.
La grande particolarità di questo libro sta nel, credo inedito, connubio fra la fotografia e il fumetto. Emmanuel Guibert ha integrato il racconto di Lefèvre con delle vignette dallo stile molto essenziale ed efficace trasformando il reportage fotografico in una storia personale dove il protagonista non è più il soggetto fotografico ma il fotografo stesso. Vediamo dunque cosa ha significato per Lefèvre realizzare quegli scatti e come l'hanno cambiato umanamente e fisicamente.
Il risultato è un libro coinvolgente ed emozionante che fa riflettere, purtroppo ce n'è ancora bisogno, sull'impatto devastante della guerra per le popolazioni che la subiscono.
Su una cosa non ero per nulla preparata e cioè la violenza diffusa patita da cavalli e asini, animali essenziali per il trasporto di armi e materiali in un paese senza infrastrutture.
È veramente impressionante vedere le condizioni di lavoro di medici e infermieri ma a colpire è anche la complessità dell'organizzazione logistica, in un paese in cui il territorio è controllato da vari capi e trafficanti locali. Niente è bianco o nero in Afghanistan, giusto e sbagliato si sovrappongono in un'infinita varietà di grigi. E queste mille sfumature si vedono anche nelle belle fotografie in bianco e nero di Lefèvre.
La grande particolarità di questo libro sta nel, credo inedito, connubio fra la fotografia e il fumetto. Emmanuel Guibert ha integrato il racconto di Lefèvre con delle vignette dallo stile molto essenziale ed efficace trasformando il reportage fotografico in una storia personale dove il protagonista non è più il soggetto fotografico ma il fotografo stesso. Vediamo dunque cosa ha significato per Lefèvre realizzare quegli scatti e come l'hanno cambiato umanamente e fisicamente.
Il risultato è un libro coinvolgente ed emozionante che fa riflettere, purtroppo ce n'è ancora bisogno, sull'impatto devastante della guerra per le popolazioni che la subiscono.
Su una cosa non ero per nulla preparata e cioè la violenza diffusa patita da cavalli e asini, animali essenziali per il trasporto di armi e materiali in un paese senza infrastrutture.
July 12, 2011
This is a fantastic example of what can be done in a non-fiction comic for adults. As the subtitle states, Didier Lefèvre traveled with Doctors without Borders to Afghanistan in the 1980s. He photographically documented their mission to bring health care to rural villages on the frontlines of the war with Russia. He also kept travel journals. The illustrator Emmanuel Guibert filled in the blanks between Lefevre's photographs with his own depictions of the events Lefevre described. I'm not entirely sure whether Lefevre served as the firsthand source of those anecdotes or whether they arrived via his wife and friends, since he passed away a couple of years ago and his travel journal was lost even before that. Regardless, the combination of photos, story, and comic panels is a potent one. While many photos speak for themselves, others are better served by explanation. I found Lefevre's actions selfish at time, but this is comic-as-memoir, and doesn't pretty up the portrait of the photographer any more than it does the depictions of war wounded children. Powerful stuff.
August 3, 2009
Beyond a useful addition to reading that helps in understanding what is happening in Afghanistan and Pakistan today, 'The Photographer' is a striking example of what the graphic novel (although this is not fiction and blends photography into its format) can be. Didier Lefevre was a French photographer who died of untimely heart failure at 49 in 2007. The book recounts a journey he took into Afghanistan in 1986, while the Russians were still fighting their war, with Doctors without Borders. Emmanuel Guibert,the gifted artist responsible for another amazing collaborative graphic memoir, 'Alan's War,' takes Lefevre's words and photos and places them in comic book panels. The result is incredible, gripping adventure and insightful reflection that really make the reader link illustration and text. Highly recommended.
March 15, 2011
Ada istilah yang mengatakan bahwa sebuah foto /gambar dapat berbicara lebih banyak daripada kata. Karenanya tak jarang sebuah foto dengan sedikit keterangan atau bahkan tanpa keterangan apapun bisa menimbulkan reaksi yang lebih fantastis dibandingkan sebuah kolom berita. Kenyataan seperti ini membuat semua media-media baik cetak maupun cyber selalu megedepankan para fotografernya dalam meliput sebuah berita atau peristiwa penting.
Didier Liever adalah seorang fotografer jurnalistik asal Perancis yang telah melanglangbuana ke berbagai penjuru dunia dengan kameranya. Pada tahun 1986 ia bersama tim kemanusiaan Perancis Médecins Sans Frontières/MSF (Doctors Without Borders) berangkat menuju Afghanistan. Perjalanan yang penuh resiko karena saat itu Afghanistan sedang berada dalam peperangan antara para Mujahidin dengan tentara-tentara Rusia.
Sepulangnya dari Afghanistan 6 buah foto hasil bidikan Didier dimuat di surat kabar Perancis “Liberation”. Jumlah yang sangat kecil dibanding 4000 foto yang berhasil dibawa Pulang Didier saat itu. Ribuan foto-foto itu tersimpan rapih dalam kotak penyimpanan selama tiga belas tahun hingga akhirnya Emmanuel Guibert, sahabatnya menyarankan pada Didier untuk bersama-sama membuat buku tentang pengalamannya selama perjalanan pertamanya ke Afghanistan itu. Akhirnya pd tahun 2003 terbitlah 3 jilid novel grafis The Photographer dalam bahasa Perancis yang kini terjemahan dalam bahasa Indonesianya baru saja diterbitkan oleh Gramedia dengan judul “Sang Fotografer”
Sebetulnya buku ini bukanlah sebuah novel grafis murni, melainkan perpaduan antara komik, album fotografi, dan kisah perjalanan. Jadi dibuku ini ribuan foto hitam putih karya Didier dirangkai menjadi sebuah kisah perjalanan Didier bersama tim relawan kesehatan MSF ke Afganistan. Untuk mengisi kekosongan yang tidak tertangkap oleh kamera Didier maka Emanuel Guibert menggambarkannya dalam panel-panel komik yang kemudian diberi warna oleh Frederic Lemerier sehingga menjadi sebuah kisah perjalanan yang menarik untuk disimak dari Didier, Sang Fotografer bersama tim MSF.
Singkatnya di buku ini kita akan menyaksikan apa yang disaksikan oleh mata Didier melalui lubang lensa kameranya selama 3 bulan di Afghanistan. Walau berada di daerah konflik namun di buku ini Didier tak satupun memotret peristiwa baku tembak antara pasukan Mujahidin dan tentara Rusia melainkan menyajikan sebuah gambaran bagaimana sukarnya perjalanan Didier bersama tim MSF menuju tempat yang ditujunya dan bagaimana mereka melakukan tindakan medis dari para korban perang dalam kondisi yang serba darurat.
Jika di edisi Perancisnya buku ini terdiri dari 3 volume maka di buku terjemahannya ini hanya terdiri dari satu buku yang dibagi menjadi tiga bagian besar. Bagian pertama dan kedua mengisahkan kisah perjalanan Sang fotografer mulai dari Perancis, tiba di Pakistan untuk bergabung dengan tim MSF, hingga ke akhirnya sampai di jantung Afghanistan Utara dan mendirikan rumah sakit darurat bagi korban perang dan penduduk di sekitarnya. Sedangkan di bagian ketiga, buku ini mengisahkan bagaimana Sang Fotografer memutuskan untuk berpisah dengan tim MSF dan melakukan perjalanan pulang menuju Pakistan dengan hanya ditemani oleh beberapa pemandu tak bersenjata yang menyebalkan.
Di bagian pertama dan kedua pembaca akan disuguhkan rangkaian peristiwa baik melalui foto dan panel-panel gambar tentang perjalanan Sang fotografer dan tim MSF dan situasi geografis dan keadaan sosial masyarakat pedesaan Afghanistan yang sedang berperang.
Ada beberapa momen dan fakta-fakta menarik yang tertangkap oleh Sang Fotografer antara lain bagaimana para tim dokter MSF itu mengajari praktek pembedahan pada calon-calon perawat Afghanistan dengan menggunakan seekor kambing. Atau bagaimana kerja keras tim dokter MSF yang berbeda keyakinan dengan penduduk Afghansitan itu tetap dihargai karena mereka meyakini walau toh akhirnya si pasien itu jiwanya tak tertolong tapi apa yang dilakukan tim MSF itu sama dengan mempersiapkan orang yang sakit itu dalam menemui Allah.
Kegananasan perang juga terungkap ketika mereka harus menangani seorang remaja yang bagian bawah wajahnya hancur oleh granat arteleri, lubang di mata kanan seorang Mujahidin akibat tertembus peluru, seorang wanita yang lumpuh karena sebutir peluru yang tepat mengenai saraf tulang punggungnya dan sebagainya. Semua itu terrekam dengan baik oleh bidikan kamera sang fotografer.
Tidak hanya itu saja, situasi sosial masyarakat yang sedang berperang juga tak luput dari pengamatannya antara lain bagaimana para remaja dengan bangga memamerkan senjata mereka karena bagi mereka sosok panutan mereka adalah para pria-pria dewasa dan orang tua mereka yang pergi berperang. Bagi remaja Afghanistan menenteng senjata dan berperang adalah sebuah kebanggan tak terkira.
Kerasnya kehidupan disana juga ikut membentuk ketahanan mental anak-anak Afghanistan. Banyak anak kecil di Afghanistan tidak menangis jika terluka, mereka terisak-isak kalau kesakitan. Tapi itu saja karena mereka siutasi perang membentuk mereka cepat tangguh dalam usia yang masih sangat muda.
Ada satu hal yang unik yang terekam di buku ini, yaitu bagaimana sikap para pria Afghanistan di tengah keluarga mereka. Walau hampir semua pria Afghanistan itu memegang senjata dan terkesan brutal saat berada dalam peperangan, sejatinya pria-pria Afghan itu adalah sosok yang lembut. Di tengah keluarganya mereka bersikap seperti seorang ibu kepada anak kecil mereka. Mereka menunjukkan kasih sayang mereka dalam cara yang sangat lembut dan nyata. Mereka sering memeriksa apakah anak-anak mereka tidak kedinginan, membetulkan topi anak-anak, dan sebagainya.
Masih banyak hal-hal menarik dalam buku ini. Foto-foto dan komik dalam buku ini betul-betul membuat saya seolah masuk dalam petualangan sang fotografer. Setelah menyimak dan melihat korban keganasan perang dan bagaimana para tim dokter MSF dengan fasilitas darurat berusaha mengobati dan mengoperasi pasien-pasiennya, di bagian ketiga kita akan diajak mengikuti petualangan sang fotografer yang dengen nekad memisahkan diri dari tim MSF untuk pulang. Hal ini sungguh tindakan nekad bagi Sang fotografer karena situasi di Afghanistan sebenarnya sangat beresiko bagi orang asing untuk melakukan perjalanan sendirian tanpa rombongan tim yang lengkap baik dari senjata maupun logistiknya.
Seperti yang sudah diduga ada banyak hambatan yang dihadapinya yaitu sakit di tengah perjalanan, diperas oleh pemandu, hingga sendirian dan hampir mati terperangkap dalam badai salju di tengah gurun Afghanistan.
Buku ini tampaknya benar-benar dikerjakan dengan serius. Pilihan menggunakan kertas art paper mengkilat merupakan pilihan yang harus diambil agar foto-fotonya tercetak dengan sempurna walau resiko utamanya adalah harga bukunya yang menjadi relatif mahal.
Salut juga untuk pengaturan tata letak foto-foto di halaman dalam buku ini. Besar kecilnya foto yang tersaji beraneka ragam, ada yang kecil berupa rangkaian foto-foto yang berderet menyajikan sebuah rangkaian peristiwa yang dapat terlihat seperti layaknya kita menonton sebuah film, lalu ada pula foto-foto ukuran besar, bahkan ada beberapa foto yang disajikan satu hingga dua halaman penuh untuk sebuah foto. Selain itu panel-panel gambar komik dalam buku ini dan teks-teksnya juga saya rasa dapat mewakili kekosongan akan apa yang tak tertangkap oleh kamera sang Fotografer.
Pada akhirnya buku ini akan menjadi sebuah dokumentasi terbaik bagi mereka yang ingin mengetahui situasi geografis, sosial, dan kemanuisiaan di Afghanistan di era 80an ketika perang sedang berkecamuk. Selain itu buku ini juga menyajikan sebuah kisah perjalanan yang dilakukan sekelompok orang-orang yang bertekad untuk memperbaiki apa yang telah dihancurkan oleh peperangan. Semoga buku ini membuka mata hati kita bahwa apapun alasannya sebuah peperangan akan menghasilkan kesengsaraan bagi mereka yang mengalaminya terutama bagi rakyat kecil yang tak mengerti politik namun yang paling langsung terkena dampaknya.
Didier Lafervre
Didier Lafevre (19 Desember 1957 - 29 Januari 2007) adalah seorang fofotgrafer jurnalistik yang foto-fotonya sering muncul di majalah-majalah Perancis L'Express dan Editions Quest France. Kegemarannya adalah melakukan perjalanan ke berbagai negara sambil memotret apa yang dilihat dan dialaminya. Selain apa yang bisa kita lihat dalam buku "Sang Fotografer" Didier banyak menghasilkan foto-foto dokumenter yang sangat luar biasa antara lain situasi pasca perang di Kosovo, epidemi AIDS di Malawi dan Kamboja, situasi negeri bekas wilayah blok Timur, hingga balap sepeda epik Paris-Roubaix.
Kesuksesan Sang Fotografer di negeri-negeri berbahasa Prancis (terjual +/- 250 rb copy) disusul dengan pengakuan yang muncul dari dunia internasional, berkat beberapa edisi berbahasa asing yang telah diterbitkan memberikan kejutan sekaligus kebagiaan bagi Didier serta bagi rekan-rekan tim MSF yang ambil bagian dalam petualangannya ke Afghanistan.
Setelah pengalamannya yang pertama ke Afghansitan yang dibukukan dalam "Sang Fotografer", Didier kembali melakukan 6 kali perjalanan ke Afghansitan antara tahun 1986-2006. Foto-foto indah hasil jepretannya itu pada tahun 2002 dirangkum dalam sebuah buku berjudul "Voyages en Afgahnistan"
Pada bulan Januari 2007, Didier meninggal karena serangan jantung pada usia 49 tahun, meinggalkan seorang istri dan dua anaknya yang masih kecil. Karya dan karakternya yang luar biasa masih banyak yang belum terungkap.
@htanzil
Didier Liever adalah seorang fotografer jurnalistik asal Perancis yang telah melanglangbuana ke berbagai penjuru dunia dengan kameranya. Pada tahun 1986 ia bersama tim kemanusiaan Perancis Médecins Sans Frontières/MSF (Doctors Without Borders) berangkat menuju Afghanistan. Perjalanan yang penuh resiko karena saat itu Afghanistan sedang berada dalam peperangan antara para Mujahidin dengan tentara-tentara Rusia.
Sepulangnya dari Afghanistan 6 buah foto hasil bidikan Didier dimuat di surat kabar Perancis “Liberation”. Jumlah yang sangat kecil dibanding 4000 foto yang berhasil dibawa Pulang Didier saat itu. Ribuan foto-foto itu tersimpan rapih dalam kotak penyimpanan selama tiga belas tahun hingga akhirnya Emmanuel Guibert, sahabatnya menyarankan pada Didier untuk bersama-sama membuat buku tentang pengalamannya selama perjalanan pertamanya ke Afghanistan itu. Akhirnya pd tahun 2003 terbitlah 3 jilid novel grafis The Photographer dalam bahasa Perancis yang kini terjemahan dalam bahasa Indonesianya baru saja diterbitkan oleh Gramedia dengan judul “Sang Fotografer”
Sebetulnya buku ini bukanlah sebuah novel grafis murni, melainkan perpaduan antara komik, album fotografi, dan kisah perjalanan. Jadi dibuku ini ribuan foto hitam putih karya Didier dirangkai menjadi sebuah kisah perjalanan Didier bersama tim relawan kesehatan MSF ke Afganistan. Untuk mengisi kekosongan yang tidak tertangkap oleh kamera Didier maka Emanuel Guibert menggambarkannya dalam panel-panel komik yang kemudian diberi warna oleh Frederic Lemerier sehingga menjadi sebuah kisah perjalanan yang menarik untuk disimak dari Didier, Sang Fotografer bersama tim MSF.
Singkatnya di buku ini kita akan menyaksikan apa yang disaksikan oleh mata Didier melalui lubang lensa kameranya selama 3 bulan di Afghanistan. Walau berada di daerah konflik namun di buku ini Didier tak satupun memotret peristiwa baku tembak antara pasukan Mujahidin dan tentara Rusia melainkan menyajikan sebuah gambaran bagaimana sukarnya perjalanan Didier bersama tim MSF menuju tempat yang ditujunya dan bagaimana mereka melakukan tindakan medis dari para korban perang dalam kondisi yang serba darurat.
Jika di edisi Perancisnya buku ini terdiri dari 3 volume maka di buku terjemahannya ini hanya terdiri dari satu buku yang dibagi menjadi tiga bagian besar. Bagian pertama dan kedua mengisahkan kisah perjalanan Sang fotografer mulai dari Perancis, tiba di Pakistan untuk bergabung dengan tim MSF, hingga ke akhirnya sampai di jantung Afghanistan Utara dan mendirikan rumah sakit darurat bagi korban perang dan penduduk di sekitarnya. Sedangkan di bagian ketiga, buku ini mengisahkan bagaimana Sang Fotografer memutuskan untuk berpisah dengan tim MSF dan melakukan perjalanan pulang menuju Pakistan dengan hanya ditemani oleh beberapa pemandu tak bersenjata yang menyebalkan.
Di bagian pertama dan kedua pembaca akan disuguhkan rangkaian peristiwa baik melalui foto dan panel-panel gambar tentang perjalanan Sang fotografer dan tim MSF dan situasi geografis dan keadaan sosial masyarakat pedesaan Afghanistan yang sedang berperang.
Ada beberapa momen dan fakta-fakta menarik yang tertangkap oleh Sang Fotografer antara lain bagaimana para tim dokter MSF itu mengajari praktek pembedahan pada calon-calon perawat Afghanistan dengan menggunakan seekor kambing. Atau bagaimana kerja keras tim dokter MSF yang berbeda keyakinan dengan penduduk Afghansitan itu tetap dihargai karena mereka meyakini walau toh akhirnya si pasien itu jiwanya tak tertolong tapi apa yang dilakukan tim MSF itu sama dengan mempersiapkan orang yang sakit itu dalam menemui Allah.
Kegananasan perang juga terungkap ketika mereka harus menangani seorang remaja yang bagian bawah wajahnya hancur oleh granat arteleri, lubang di mata kanan seorang Mujahidin akibat tertembus peluru, seorang wanita yang lumpuh karena sebutir peluru yang tepat mengenai saraf tulang punggungnya dan sebagainya. Semua itu terrekam dengan baik oleh bidikan kamera sang fotografer.
Tidak hanya itu saja, situasi sosial masyarakat yang sedang berperang juga tak luput dari pengamatannya antara lain bagaimana para remaja dengan bangga memamerkan senjata mereka karena bagi mereka sosok panutan mereka adalah para pria-pria dewasa dan orang tua mereka yang pergi berperang. Bagi remaja Afghanistan menenteng senjata dan berperang adalah sebuah kebanggan tak terkira.
Kerasnya kehidupan disana juga ikut membentuk ketahanan mental anak-anak Afghanistan. Banyak anak kecil di Afghanistan tidak menangis jika terluka, mereka terisak-isak kalau kesakitan. Tapi itu saja karena mereka siutasi perang membentuk mereka cepat tangguh dalam usia yang masih sangat muda.
Ada satu hal yang unik yang terekam di buku ini, yaitu bagaimana sikap para pria Afghanistan di tengah keluarga mereka. Walau hampir semua pria Afghanistan itu memegang senjata dan terkesan brutal saat berada dalam peperangan, sejatinya pria-pria Afghan itu adalah sosok yang lembut. Di tengah keluarganya mereka bersikap seperti seorang ibu kepada anak kecil mereka. Mereka menunjukkan kasih sayang mereka dalam cara yang sangat lembut dan nyata. Mereka sering memeriksa apakah anak-anak mereka tidak kedinginan, membetulkan topi anak-anak, dan sebagainya.
Masih banyak hal-hal menarik dalam buku ini. Foto-foto dan komik dalam buku ini betul-betul membuat saya seolah masuk dalam petualangan sang fotografer. Setelah menyimak dan melihat korban keganasan perang dan bagaimana para tim dokter MSF dengan fasilitas darurat berusaha mengobati dan mengoperasi pasien-pasiennya, di bagian ketiga kita akan diajak mengikuti petualangan sang fotografer yang dengen nekad memisahkan diri dari tim MSF untuk pulang. Hal ini sungguh tindakan nekad bagi Sang fotografer karena situasi di Afghanistan sebenarnya sangat beresiko bagi orang asing untuk melakukan perjalanan sendirian tanpa rombongan tim yang lengkap baik dari senjata maupun logistiknya.
Seperti yang sudah diduga ada banyak hambatan yang dihadapinya yaitu sakit di tengah perjalanan, diperas oleh pemandu, hingga sendirian dan hampir mati terperangkap dalam badai salju di tengah gurun Afghanistan.
Buku ini tampaknya benar-benar dikerjakan dengan serius. Pilihan menggunakan kertas art paper mengkilat merupakan pilihan yang harus diambil agar foto-fotonya tercetak dengan sempurna walau resiko utamanya adalah harga bukunya yang menjadi relatif mahal.
Salut juga untuk pengaturan tata letak foto-foto di halaman dalam buku ini. Besar kecilnya foto yang tersaji beraneka ragam, ada yang kecil berupa rangkaian foto-foto yang berderet menyajikan sebuah rangkaian peristiwa yang dapat terlihat seperti layaknya kita menonton sebuah film, lalu ada pula foto-foto ukuran besar, bahkan ada beberapa foto yang disajikan satu hingga dua halaman penuh untuk sebuah foto. Selain itu panel-panel gambar komik dalam buku ini dan teks-teksnya juga saya rasa dapat mewakili kekosongan akan apa yang tak tertangkap oleh kamera sang Fotografer.
Pada akhirnya buku ini akan menjadi sebuah dokumentasi terbaik bagi mereka yang ingin mengetahui situasi geografis, sosial, dan kemanuisiaan di Afghanistan di era 80an ketika perang sedang berkecamuk. Selain itu buku ini juga menyajikan sebuah kisah perjalanan yang dilakukan sekelompok orang-orang yang bertekad untuk memperbaiki apa yang telah dihancurkan oleh peperangan. Semoga buku ini membuka mata hati kita bahwa apapun alasannya sebuah peperangan akan menghasilkan kesengsaraan bagi mereka yang mengalaminya terutama bagi rakyat kecil yang tak mengerti politik namun yang paling langsung terkena dampaknya.
Didier Lafervre
Didier Lafevre (19 Desember 1957 - 29 Januari 2007) adalah seorang fofotgrafer jurnalistik yang foto-fotonya sering muncul di majalah-majalah Perancis L'Express dan Editions Quest France. Kegemarannya adalah melakukan perjalanan ke berbagai negara sambil memotret apa yang dilihat dan dialaminya. Selain apa yang bisa kita lihat dalam buku "Sang Fotografer" Didier banyak menghasilkan foto-foto dokumenter yang sangat luar biasa antara lain situasi pasca perang di Kosovo, epidemi AIDS di Malawi dan Kamboja, situasi negeri bekas wilayah blok Timur, hingga balap sepeda epik Paris-Roubaix.
Kesuksesan Sang Fotografer di negeri-negeri berbahasa Prancis (terjual +/- 250 rb copy) disusul dengan pengakuan yang muncul dari dunia internasional, berkat beberapa edisi berbahasa asing yang telah diterbitkan memberikan kejutan sekaligus kebagiaan bagi Didier serta bagi rekan-rekan tim MSF yang ambil bagian dalam petualangannya ke Afghanistan.
Setelah pengalamannya yang pertama ke Afghansitan yang dibukukan dalam "Sang Fotografer", Didier kembali melakukan 6 kali perjalanan ke Afghansitan antara tahun 1986-2006. Foto-foto indah hasil jepretannya itu pada tahun 2002 dirangkum dalam sebuah buku berjudul "Voyages en Afgahnistan"
Pada bulan Januari 2007, Didier meninggal karena serangan jantung pada usia 49 tahun, meinggalkan seorang istri dan dua anaknya yang masih kecil. Karya dan karakternya yang luar biasa masih banyak yang belum terungkap.
@htanzil
March 9, 2014
Kind of a cross between a graphic memoir and a photography book -- Lefèvre was hired as a photographer for a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) mission to Afghanistan in the eighties, and some twenty years later he and some others sat down to turn the experience into this.
It's a different perspective than you might ordinarily get; Lefèvre was by definition there to observe, not to act. He's there to document the obvious -- the work that the MSF doctors do -- but also the stuff behind the magic, starting with the struggle it is just to get from Pakistan to the site in Afghanistan. Different war then, different players, different technology, but in some ways I expect aid workers would face similar problems now.
Because the graphic art and the photographs are side by side, you get a much better than average idea of how true the art is to fact -- and yes, I'd say it's pretty true. The art is all in muted tones, and the photography almost exclusively black and white (wouldn't I have loved to see it in colour!), but in the few pictures with more tone you can see how much sense the muted palate makes in the landscape. (Most of the book takes place while they're walking from one place to another, as opposed to when the MSF doctors are in place and treating patients.) The photographs are often arranged like strips of negatives, so that you can see not just the ones that turned our really well but the ones surrounding them, in which the angle or the expression isn't quite right or the photos were good but simply not as good. It's interesting, honest. I ended up spending less time on the photos than I ordinarily would in a photography-heavy book, but then -- the graphic art did the work it was meant to.
It's a different perspective than you might ordinarily get; Lefèvre was by definition there to observe, not to act. He's there to document the obvious -- the work that the MSF doctors do -- but also the stuff behind the magic, starting with the struggle it is just to get from Pakistan to the site in Afghanistan. Different war then, different players, different technology, but in some ways I expect aid workers would face similar problems now.
Because the graphic art and the photographs are side by side, you get a much better than average idea of how true the art is to fact -- and yes, I'd say it's pretty true. The art is all in muted tones, and the photography almost exclusively black and white (wouldn't I have loved to see it in colour!), but in the few pictures with more tone you can see how much sense the muted palate makes in the landscape. (Most of the book takes place while they're walking from one place to another, as opposed to when the MSF doctors are in place and treating patients.) The photographs are often arranged like strips of negatives, so that you can see not just the ones that turned our really well but the ones surrounding them, in which the angle or the expression isn't quite right or the photos were good but simply not as good. It's interesting, honest. I ended up spending less time on the photos than I ordinarily would in a photography-heavy book, but then -- the graphic art did the work it was meant to.
February 17, 2010
The concept used here - part graphic novel, part photo essay - is brilliant, and I hope the model is copied by others. The bounty of a French photographer's work in 1980s Afghanistan is put together with colored artwork to complete a narrative of his adventure. The best travel writing out there tends to stand out because it's written by great writers. This is just the opposite. Didier Lefevre is no writer, but his very other-worldly experience and his excellent photography are entertainment enough.
What is recounted is Lefevre's experiences traveling covertly through Afghanistan from Pakistan, over incredible terrain, as a photographer whose mission it was to document the efforts of a courageous Doctors Without Borders group during Afghanistan's war with the Soviet Union.
The narrator does not -- and can not -- really dig beneath the surface of the Afghan society. He speaks only the crudest Arabic, and spends most of his time with the doctors, not the locals. But he does rub elbows with enough Afghans, good and bad, to make a good story. You certainly get a sense for the hopelessness of that war and how remote the rural areas are from the influence of the West.
My biggest bone to pick, however, is that the vast majority of these amazing black and white photos are printed way too small in this volume. These photographs are the centerpiece of the book, but many are too small to appreciate! Only a handful of pictures are printed larger than a few square inches. It's a shameful oversight.
I'm still very glad they compiled this book.
What is recounted is Lefevre's experiences traveling covertly through Afghanistan from Pakistan, over incredible terrain, as a photographer whose mission it was to document the efforts of a courageous Doctors Without Borders group during Afghanistan's war with the Soviet Union.
The narrator does not -- and can not -- really dig beneath the surface of the Afghan society. He speaks only the crudest Arabic, and spends most of his time with the doctors, not the locals. But he does rub elbows with enough Afghans, good and bad, to make a good story. You certainly get a sense for the hopelessness of that war and how remote the rural areas are from the influence of the West.
My biggest bone to pick, however, is that the vast majority of these amazing black and white photos are printed way too small in this volume. These photographs are the centerpiece of the book, but many are too small to appreciate! Only a handful of pictures are printed larger than a few square inches. It's a shameful oversight.
I'm still very glad they compiled this book.
June 24, 2016
This is a memoir in a graphic novel format with some actual photos included taken by the author. If you need to flesh out your knowledge of Afghanistan, this seems like a good choice to have on your list of informative books to learn about that terrible country.
I'm glad to have discovered 'The Photographer' on my library shelves and I highly recommend it to folks wanting a look at Afghanistan from a travelor's viewpoint. I have the greatest respect for the Doctors Without Borders organization and this book will win more admirers for them. Although the book was about a trip during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan I don't believe it is out of date except things are probably worse now in 2012, the year I am reading this innovative and informative comic.
If there is a hell on Earth, Afghanistan is it. Didier Lefevre tells an unbiased, even-handed account of his journey. My opinion from reading these pages is that Afghanistan is a horror. The social infrastructure and culture that appears in these pages shows an extremely corrupt and rotten society. One telling aspect of this society which reveals the underlying sadism is how travelers pass dead, exhausted donkeys and horses on the dirt roads. All human necessities for survival are almost completely unavailable. An ancient and religious environment obviously is not adequate on any level to lift a society up from depravity and deprivation.
The comic book format is amazingly good and makes for a great memoir.
I'm glad to have discovered 'The Photographer' on my library shelves and I highly recommend it to folks wanting a look at Afghanistan from a travelor's viewpoint. I have the greatest respect for the Doctors Without Borders organization and this book will win more admirers for them. Although the book was about a trip during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan I don't believe it is out of date except things are probably worse now in 2012, the year I am reading this innovative and informative comic.
If there is a hell on Earth, Afghanistan is it. Didier Lefevre tells an unbiased, even-handed account of his journey. My opinion from reading these pages is that Afghanistan is a horror. The social infrastructure and culture that appears in these pages shows an extremely corrupt and rotten society. One telling aspect of this society which reveals the underlying sadism is how travelers pass dead, exhausted donkeys and horses on the dirt roads. All human necessities for survival are almost completely unavailable. An ancient and religious environment obviously is not adequate on any level to lift a society up from depravity and deprivation.
The comic book format is amazingly good and makes for a great memoir.
January 28, 2016
Very interesting. This guy is so brave (and a little crazy) to eventually go off by himself in Afghanistan. Worth a read.
July 29, 2024
Beautiful.
May 6, 2015
This is a graphic memoir which tells the story of French photojournalist Didier Lefevre, on his first major assignment documenting the work of Doctors Without Borders in Afghanistan during the Cold War of the 1980s. He starts in Peshwar, Pakistan and works his way through Afghanistan, traveling primarily by foot or mule. Didier's actual photography is incorporated in between the panels of artwork, a format I had not come across before but one that really held my interest!
For those not familiar with this time in history, no worries. Translator Alexis Siegel (as you can guess, Lefevre's story was originally published in French) provides a clear and very helpful overview of the situation in her introductory essay at the beginning of the book. For those interested in the topic, much of what is discussed in this essay can also be found in the powerful nonfiction works of Azar Nafisi.
I've always been impressed with Doctors Without Borders as an organization, even more so now. I like how they do not see borders, only patients that need help regardless of which side they are fighting on -- so while the hospitals they set up might have been stationed in Afghanistan, a good number of their patients also came from the Soviet side. It struck me as somewhat funny how the story tells of how the doctors had to cross borders illegally at night, always fearing capture by the Soviets, yet the Soviets didn't bat an eye at bringing their wounded to the very doctors they were trying so hard to keep out! I was especially impressed with the group's leader, Juliette, a female doctor who stood out for dressing like a man, who confidently addressed village chiefs on an equal level, and who had such a cool mix of bravery, no-nonsense and also a light-hearted, fun loving side (when the timing was appropriate, obvs). I also liked how she revealed her secret to getting "in" with the male leaders -- she'd befriend the women of the households and gain their trust to get any helpful gossip / intel! Go girl!
Reading this memoir, while it is a bit of work -- it does not flow as fast and easy as a graphic novel typically does -- was such a rewarding education. It took me about 130 pages in for the story to really start affecting me, but in the end I learned so much and got a good look at just how difficult the lifestyle there can be. I also got at least a small sense of the political climate at that time, how uneasy and scared everyone was (how bathing required armed guards and planning!) but also how so many wanted peace between everyone but didn't know how to get there.
While it is an important education, it is also certainly a painful read. It broke my heart to read of how the horses and mules were commonly overworked and mistreated literally to death -- they would just fall over and die, be left there to rot, their replacement simply picked up in the next town. I also felt for the children photographed by Lefevre, many under the age of 8, coming into the hospitals with body parts burned black or gunshot wounds to their little limbs. Those photographs were the hardest parts to stomach. There's one series of shots of one little girl with a burned hand where you can almost hear her screams of pain through the photographs.
But with that, there are also moments of levity and touching humanity that I loved. I especially laughed at the guy who just randomly shows up in the middle of the desert with a bag of cakes, miles away from any civilization, when the traveling doctors are fatigued and desperate for food and rest. And then after handing out cakes, he just walks off into nothingness again!
While it definitely won't read like your typical graphic novel, I do recommend checking this one out for those interested in history and multicultural reads. I also recommend maybe having a magnifying glass on hand because some of the photographs in here are tiiiiny.
Something else to note: The Dari / Farsi sections of dialogue in the story are done by Marjane Satrapi, the author of the graphic memoir Persepolis.
For those not familiar with this time in history, no worries. Translator Alexis Siegel (as you can guess, Lefevre's story was originally published in French) provides a clear and very helpful overview of the situation in her introductory essay at the beginning of the book. For those interested in the topic, much of what is discussed in this essay can also be found in the powerful nonfiction works of Azar Nafisi.
I've always been impressed with Doctors Without Borders as an organization, even more so now. I like how they do not see borders, only patients that need help regardless of which side they are fighting on -- so while the hospitals they set up might have been stationed in Afghanistan, a good number of their patients also came from the Soviet side. It struck me as somewhat funny how the story tells of how the doctors had to cross borders illegally at night, always fearing capture by the Soviets, yet the Soviets didn't bat an eye at bringing their wounded to the very doctors they were trying so hard to keep out! I was especially impressed with the group's leader, Juliette, a female doctor who stood out for dressing like a man, who confidently addressed village chiefs on an equal level, and who had such a cool mix of bravery, no-nonsense and also a light-hearted, fun loving side (when the timing was appropriate, obvs). I also liked how she revealed her secret to getting "in" with the male leaders -- she'd befriend the women of the households and gain their trust to get any helpful gossip / intel! Go girl!
Reading this memoir, while it is a bit of work -- it does not flow as fast and easy as a graphic novel typically does -- was such a rewarding education. It took me about 130 pages in for the story to really start affecting me, but in the end I learned so much and got a good look at just how difficult the lifestyle there can be. I also got at least a small sense of the political climate at that time, how uneasy and scared everyone was (how bathing required armed guards and planning!) but also how so many wanted peace between everyone but didn't know how to get there.
While it is an important education, it is also certainly a painful read. It broke my heart to read of how the horses and mules were commonly overworked and mistreated literally to death -- they would just fall over and die, be left there to rot, their replacement simply picked up in the next town. I also felt for the children photographed by Lefevre, many under the age of 8, coming into the hospitals with body parts burned black or gunshot wounds to their little limbs. Those photographs were the hardest parts to stomach. There's one series of shots of one little girl with a burned hand where you can almost hear her screams of pain through the photographs.
But with that, there are also moments of levity and touching humanity that I loved. I especially laughed at the guy who just randomly shows up in the middle of the desert with a bag of cakes, miles away from any civilization, when the traveling doctors are fatigued and desperate for food and rest. And then after handing out cakes, he just walks off into nothingness again!
While it definitely won't read like your typical graphic novel, I do recommend checking this one out for those interested in history and multicultural reads. I also recommend maybe having a magnifying glass on hand because some of the photographs in here are tiiiiny.
Something else to note: The Dari / Farsi sections of dialogue in the story are done by Marjane Satrapi, the author of the graphic memoir Persepolis.
July 29, 2018
I spent a great deal of time taking in the photography. The combination of photos and graphics brought to life Didier mission and suffering.
I still can't decide whether Didier is brave or simply crazy!
I still can't decide whether Didier is brave or simply crazy!
August 22, 2017
French photographer Didier Lefevre's first trip to Afghanistan took place in 1986, the year I graduated high school and joined the US Army. The personal connection is important to me, I guess, because my memories of that time added something to the narrative as I read. The book is a memoir of Lefevre's experience accompanying doctors who entered the war zone. Lefevre's photographs and his account of the trip, combined with panels of illustration by Emmanuel Guibert and Frederic Lemercier, make this memoir a graphic "novel".
Lefevre is not familiar with Afghanistan or even the politics of the war, so his initiation into the surroundings is interesting, amusing, and even sometimes exasperating. At times, I wanted to "enter the heads" of the doctors instead, because they were professionals with amazing skills and admirable knowledge of Afghanistan and its people.
If you are looking for an action packed account of war, this is not it. You definitely get a sense of war's brutality, but Lefevre does not experience combat. It's refreshing, actually, to witness the doctors, the lines of casualties, and the triumphants and tribulations of practicing medicine in a "sanitary wasteland". If you know someone who longs for adventure and thinks the conventional, mundane slog of a military unit might be the place for it, this book may convince them to take up something more heroic: medicine.
The story takes its most exciting turn when Lefevre decides to make the return journey to Pakistan without the doctors. He survives. Barely. Despite the weather in high mountain passes and the vagaries of who you encounter and what happens when you are alone and can't even speak the language. Now that's what my army buddies used to call "hardcore".
Lefevre is not familiar with Afghanistan or even the politics of the war, so his initiation into the surroundings is interesting, amusing, and even sometimes exasperating. At times, I wanted to "enter the heads" of the doctors instead, because they were professionals with amazing skills and admirable knowledge of Afghanistan and its people.
If you are looking for an action packed account of war, this is not it. You definitely get a sense of war's brutality, but Lefevre does not experience combat. It's refreshing, actually, to witness the doctors, the lines of casualties, and the triumphants and tribulations of practicing medicine in a "sanitary wasteland". If you know someone who longs for adventure and thinks the conventional, mundane slog of a military unit might be the place for it, this book may convince them to take up something more heroic: medicine.
The story takes its most exciting turn when Lefevre decides to make the return journey to Pakistan without the doctors. He survives. Barely. Despite the weather in high mountain passes and the vagaries of who you encounter and what happens when you are alone and can't even speak the language. Now that's what my army buddies used to call "hardcore".
February 15, 2014
This is quite simply a first hand account of a naive French photographer documenting a caravan and mission into late 1980's Afghanistan, while the Soviets were still attempting to subjugate the country. This is a superb work of art that blends photography, art, and the journal notes of Dieder Lefevre on his journey. What makes the story even more compelling is that it is true - the account of one man in a new land. I will certainly be able to use this text in my courses, particularly those involving geopolitics, and the ever changing role of the small country in a global chess game. There are many levels of complexity within the work. The black and white photography is sublime, using the shades of grey to bring out the subtle beauty of Afghanistan that is often fatalistic. The art of Guibert is muted in tone, relying upon the nuance of the earthtones of his chosen palate. And there is the story itself, the first hand account of Lefevre, that ranges from the highs of the communities that welcome the MSF caravan, to being deserted by his escort on a mountain pass in a snowstorm. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and highly recommend it to all.
June 29, 2015
Ughhhh guys this book was awesome why did it take me so long to read it? Because it takes a tremendous and extended amount of focus is why -- the story of MSF in rural 1980s war-torn Afghanistan is a foreign one to most readers, which needs plenty of explication and investigation to acquaint and integrate you into the truly moving and deeply human experience of very green photographer Didier LeFevre as he accompanies the group on their humanitarian mission. Guibert's tremendous skill as an oral historian, getting to know and fairly and fully representing his subject, is at work here, and I reveled in it, learned a ton, and shook my head to think of how little progress we've made in easing the suffering of the world since these events took place. But uhmmmm maybe that was part of the point? Great. Get it.
August 20, 2016
15th Aug 2016:
An amazing read so far on the personal accounts of the photographer through the war torn Afganistan on a mission to capture the day to day life of Doctors without borders. The narration through the graphic novel interspersed with the photos taken by the author adds a whole new perspective.
20th Aug 2016:
Finished the book in my second sitting. What started as a diary, photo story of the MSF & experiences of the photographer turned into a suspense thriller at chapter 3. Chapter 2 chronicles MSF's undertaking in the war torn parts of the country with their consultations, surgeries & operations under less sanitized rooms & some philosophy on the medical basics. It has been an wonderful book & photo essays wherever they are provided.
An amazing read so far on the personal accounts of the photographer through the war torn Afganistan on a mission to capture the day to day life of Doctors without borders. The narration through the graphic novel interspersed with the photos taken by the author adds a whole new perspective.
20th Aug 2016:
Finished the book in my second sitting. What started as a diary, photo story of the MSF & experiences of the photographer turned into a suspense thriller at chapter 3. Chapter 2 chronicles MSF's undertaking in the war torn parts of the country with their consultations, surgeries & operations under less sanitized rooms & some philosophy on the medical basics. It has been an wonderful book & photo essays wherever they are provided.
February 7, 2011
Books like this one have a powerful effect on me and only make me wish I had read it 10 years earlier. I found myself idly dreaming about the incredible adventure of being part of Doctors without Borders. I am still happy to have read it and for the insights I have gathered about Afghanistan from it. My wish is still that someday I will be able to be a part of something like this and write my own unique travelogue about the most barren and remote parts of the world.
October 15, 2014
As my English friends would say Brilliant. I love how the photography, graphics, and narration blend together so the reader gets a vivid experience of life in the middle east through the photographer's experience. His journey with the French Doctor's Without Borders team is one I won't soon forget.
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