"The Photographer", Emmanuel Guibert

kully

kully

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Wow.

I was in the bookshop this evening, just waiting for my wife when I chanced upon this book in the photography section, which normally never changes.

I should be in bed, I need to get up early tomorrow and I'm been sitting in a hideously contorted position as the furniture is all piled up for a new floor being put in tomorrow.

But I read it all the way through and it's the most refreshing 'photo book' I've ever read.

The book concerns a photographer, French, who goes to Afghanistan in 1986 on his first photo assignment with "Medicines sans frontieres". The photographer's name is Lefèvre I havn't read the preamble so I am assuming Guibert is the illustrator.

The book needs an illustrator as it is in the form of a graphic novel but interwoven with the painted frames are individual and multiple frames from Lefèvre's contact sheets and a few bigger enlargements.

I hate Amazon, one day they will crack their whips in triumph over all humanity - but here is a link so you can see the cover: LINK.

I loved the banality of his early shots, the power of the later shots and all the way through the markings on the negatives.

Oh. He's a Leica + Tri-X man :)

Anyone else read this?
 
I picked it up from Waterstones in London. Still reading through it. The mix of illustration and photographs works well - it is a creative way of telling a story, giving the photographs a context.

The elements of the book do not always work together as a whole but the book is still good - sometimes the photographs are captivating, at other times the conversation or information grabs your attention, or the illustration and storytelling carries you along. As for the 'quality' of the photographs - some are excellent on their own, others describe a moment (photojournalism), and the format allows the authors to present a series of shots of a single event or person.

The art work is good - in the French and Belgian tradition of bande dessinée (well, I'm sure I'm simplifying greatly here, what with my limited view of what constitutes bande dessinee!). At any rate, it is simple, confident, approachable and juxtaposes nicely with the photographs.

I recommend this one.
 
I just got a copy of this book. Wow, indeed! The story is compelling and the photos are amazing. BTW, the photographer appears to use HP5 as well as Tri-X, and carried a Nikon F2 as well as a Leica. It looks like a lot of the photos were taken w/ a 35 or even a 28 lens, taken very close to his subjects.
 
I read it in the original French a while ago, and always bemoaned the lack of an English translation, because it deserves the worldwide exposure.

It's truly an outstanding work both graphically and story-wise. That it talks about the Soviet Afghan war makes a fantastic counterpoint to the current NATO operations in Afghanistan.
 
Thanks for the heads-up Kully.

I assumed that it was no longer available for some reason (following a thread earlier in the year), but bought it last week and was very impressed. I once walked 120 miles to raise money for Doctors Without Borders but previously never really appreciated what they did with the funds.
 
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The photographer, Lefevre has also made a very good photobook called:
"the country of bitter oranges and sweet lemons" where he presents a good part of his work in Afganistan. the pictures are very good, but what makes them even better is the narration.
It was the first time I sensed words added so much to the pictures (and then I read Eugene Richards...)
The end of the story is quite sad. Lefevre has been very sick several times there (he was robbed, left in the cold, almost died etc.) He hardly recovered. He died a few years ago very young (around 50).
Buy his books, they worth it!
 
I had seen the spanish edition some time ago, which is divided in 3 volumes... at 18€ each!!!! I just ordered an english copy at Amazon.uk...saving lot of money!!!Should be a fine reading for the summer holidays.
Thanks for the tip Kully!!!
 
An excellent and moving book that is now turning up at half-price in remainder sales. Well worth the effort to find a copy.
 
I'm glad I wasn't the only one to like this book. No-one I have recommended / bought this book for has been disappointed.
 
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Btw. I've been recommended to try this store when buying books from UK: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/
The book has just arrived and looks pretty interesting, I like the story and drawings more than actual photos.
__________________
Palec on flickr

I was told about the book depository around a year ago and it's now my 1st
choige for books as it gives me euro prices,cheaper than Amazon and no delivery charges.

mad mike
 
I got this book and I'm half-way through it.

Its an interesting adventure story so far but at the same time I'm not impressed by the photographer himself and his photos. He seems to always miss the point where something is happening, he fails to capture the interaction between the doctors and the Afghans and also it seems the Afghans pretty much ignore him most of the time and he does not impress them much. They give him a name which is mostly used for kids with 'jaan' in the end 'ahmad jaan'.

His photos also seem rather detached for such a tight knit group and his sticking with b&w is also a mistake because he fails to capture the landscape, which is the dominant feature of a sparsely populated place like Afghanistan.

However the most impressive character in the book is Juliette Fournot, the expedition leader. A very attractive woman who leads a group of hundred Afghan fighters and they all seem to respect her, now thats something.
 
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