Femtosecond white-light continuum probe transient absorption and reflectivity measurements of bulk graphite and graphene paper are reported. In graphite, the relaxation of photoinduced electron-hole pairs happens through in-plane electron-electron and electron-phonon scattering in similar or equal to 200 fs, while the ps dynamics is due to the modulation of the electronic structure by out-of-plane structural motions. The ps dynamics of the optical signal is strongly reduced in graphene paper, where the out-of-plane bond is disrupted, while the short component of the dynamics is identical in both materials. These results show that in 2D-graphene, the carrier relaxation occurs in similar or equal to 200 fs. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.