Emmanuel Guibert Presents The Photographer
In association with TCAF and Doctors Without Borders
Wednesday, May 6, 2009, at 7pm
@ Toronto Public Library, Northern District Branch, 40 Orchard View Blvd., Room 224abc
Free to attend, please RSVP: Valentina Ciric - http://www.blogger.com/vciric@torontopubliclibrary.ca

Emmanuel Guibert will present his graphic novel The Photographer at the Toronto Public Library. The Photographer relates the story of Didier Lefevre, a photo-journalist covering a Doctor Without Borders mission in 1980's Afghanistan. Guibert incorporates Lefevre's actual photos into the comics narrative, and partners with colour-artist Frederic Lemercier, to create a compelling, evocative, and deep work on this very serious subject.

After the presentation, Mr. Guibert will be joined by Marilyn McHarg, a founding member and current General Director of the Canadian section of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) / Doctors Without Borders, the world's leading independent medical humanitarian organization for a panel discussion. Q&A and Creator Signing will follow.

As an introduction, by Emmanuel Guibert:

"When a press photographer comes back from a mission in acountry at war, he brings back hundreds of photographs and as many anecdotes. Out of these hundreds of photographs, a few dozens are printed, four or five are sold to the press, and the remainder ends up in boxes. The photographer, if he fancies it, shares some anecdotes with his close relatives. Time passes by, other assignment, other photographs and other anecdotes dispel the first ones, and memory put them into boxes. This is how stories fall into oblivion. The number of "sleeping beauty" stories is infinite.

Comics are one way to awaken them. There are a hundred reasons why I should love Didier Lefevre. One of them is that he [was] a good photographer. Another one is that he [told] stories well. Since the first time I heard him recount stories - contact sheet in hand- about one of his coverage, I have wished we would make a book together. The comic book intervenes to make Didier's voice heard, to fill the empty space between photographs and tells what occurs when Didier, for a reason or another, could not take pictures."

The Photographer received the 2007 "Globe de Cristal" prize in France, and was selected as one of the "essentials" Comic book at the 34th International "BD" Festival of Angouleme.