Photographing Afghanistan

Last Sunday was Eid, a day of celebration at the end of Ramadan.  The Afghani man who sells Greek foods was not at the Montrose Harvest Market.   No doubt,  he was home with his family.  

A couple of weeks earlier I had asked him if he was familiar with the graphic book, “The Photographer” .  He wasn’t.   The book, subtitled “Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders”, is based on the photographs and recollections of DidierLefevre, the photographer of the title. 

It was 1986.  The war was Afghans v. Russians.  Parisian Lefevre joined a team of Doctors Without Borders as they made their journey, mostly by horse and foot, from Pakistan into mountainous Northern Afghanistan.  Normally, I pass up graphic books, but this one is brilliant.  Page after page of Lefevre’s photographs and illustrations drawn from the photos by Emmanuel Guibert tell of this dangerous two month long trip to establish hospitals in remote villages.   The book is as much about the photographer and his experiences as it is about Doctors Without Borders. 

I suspect that the tale he tells would not be much different now–20 years after his trek.   The difficulty of traveling in these rugged areas, hasn’t changed in eons.  In isolated valleys, warlords ruled then, and do so  now.  The villagers often suffered from war hideous injuries, and still do.   Only the name of the occupying foreign country has changed.  If you only read one book this year, read this one!

The Photographer is the latest in a series of books I’ve read in an attempt to learn more about that part of the planet which stretches from the Middle East to the Himalayas. 

More about the others tomorrow.