Emmanuel Guibert

The Photographer pairs the work of French photographer Didier Lefèvre with the art of Emmanuel Guibert to create a haunting, suspenseful, and memorable story about a 1986 Doctors Without Borders mission into the most isolated and war-torn areas of Afghanistan.

The narrative will keep you turning the pages (but be careful, the book is over-sized and a bit heavy! :-) and it's perfectly woven throughout the images - seamlessly providing a story in both words and images. The use of multiple show more media in the telling of the story results in the reader quickly becoming emotionally connected to the doctors, guides, community warlords and leaders, and the patients - many of whom have suffered horrific injuries. The journey the mission takes from Pakistan is beyond arduous, beyond dangerous, and beyond beautiful.

What I found most revealing about The Photographer was how dangerous Western hubris can be in a climate and culture as remote and different as this one. Lefèvre, a savvy, open-minded hiker in better than average shape, is the weak link in his group - not just physically but in his ignorance of how unlike France, and even Pakistan, Afghanistan will be. To his credit, he's a quick study who tries to adapt (and the people he meets love having their photos taken, so that helps to bridge barriers!) but his failure to adapt his Western style thought and behavior patterns to the realities of the landscape, political climate, and social norms nearly results in his demise. If anything, this is the most valuable lesson any of us can take away from his story and his work. show less

Eccentric, to say the least. I was charmed by the romance, the artwork, by a cameo appearance of Queen Victoria, and by the Monty Pythonesque silliness of the plot. "(A body! My goodness, no, I don't know where it came from. Oh look, there's another one on the stairs.") Just one quibble--if the mummy, under his bandages, is a perfectly ordinary-looking fellow, then why on earth would he wear them?

A short, brilliant graphic novel. It is set in Victorian England and tells about the love affair between a professor's daughter and the walking, talking mummy of Pharaoh Imhotep IV that her father brought back from Egypt. Like any romantic comedy, it recounts the obstacles and misunderstandings in their romance -- set against a backdrop of London adventures, chases, courtroom dramas, and prison scenes.

It doesn't feel like fantasy, conjuring a London that matches our literary imagination, but show more just happens to have a few walking, talking mummies roaming around.

I did, however, miss Joann Sfar's drawing -- he did the words and co-author Emmanuel Guibert did the illustrations. show less

A short, brilliant graphic novel. It is set in Victorian England and tells about the love affair between a professor's daughter and the walking, talking mummy of Pharaoh Imhotep IV that her father brought back from Egypt. Like any romantic comedy, it recounts the obstacles and misunderstandings in their romance -- set against a backdrop of London adventures, chases, courtroom dramas, and prison scenes.

It doesn't feel like fantasy, conjuring a London that matches our literary imagination, but show more just happens to have a few walking, talking mummies roaming around.

I did, however, miss Joann Sfar's drawing -- he did the words and co-author Emmanuel Guibert did the illustrations. show less