Rating: 5/5
First off, this is the story of Didier Lefèvre's journey into Afghanistan in 1986 as part of a Doctors Without Borders mission. He signed on to photograph the journey into Afghanistan and record the work this group was doing. At the time, local Afghans were fighting the Soviet Union.
The story alone is amazing. The extreme conditions that the group had to contend with just to reach their destination is powerful. The work they performed and the atrocities they had to help the locals face adds on top of that. It is interesting that Didier chose to break off from the group for the return journey, which may have been the most harrowing part of the story. He certainly changed as a result of this experience.
The story is only part of the book. That could have been conveyed in a memoir. The mixture of photos from the mission and the illustrations that accompany them add another layer of complexity. I found myself staring at the pictures. Some were because of how perfectly Didier was able to capture the human moments and the beauty of the stark landscape. Others stood out because of how horrific they were. I liked that the photos are in black and white while the illustrations are done in color. This gives a nice contrast. There is also a good cultural contrast between the mission workers and the local Afghans displayed here.
My only real complaint is that many of the photos are so small. It makes it hard to focus on the detail at times. Usually this happens when there are a series of pictures focused on a person or event. The slight differences emphasize how Didier was always looking for what he calls "a good photo".
This is a book that I would recommend for almost anyone. The content can be difficult to deal with at times because there are some very graphic scenes, but it is not gratuitous in any way.
No comments:
Post a Comment