Carol Ann Duffy - War Photographer

Question 1

“he a priest preparing to intone a mass”

Answer 1

• Duffy makes use of contrast here, comparing a peaceful ceremony such as a mass to this man laying out photos of horrible, violent images of war
• Shows how much care he takes when developing the images, he treats his job with respect
• Could be parallelism between him as a war photographer seeing a lot of pain and death, and a priest seeing the same regularly

Question 2

“Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh”

Answer 2

• Duffy creates a list of places destroyed by violent wars, and this emphasises the sheer amount of violence taking place across the world, and the sheer variety of people affected
• Creates a depressing mood as it could be used to show that suffering has no bias, anywhere can be affected by war

Question 3

“which did not tremble then
though seem to now”

Answer 3

• Contrast between the man’s life before and after having this job for a long time (did not/then…though/now)
• Shows the impact this work has had on him, he is physically shaking with anxiety because of all the horrors he has been subjected to

Question 4

“Home again
to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel”

Answer 4

• More contrast between the life of the photographer and those whom he photographs
• He is able to go home and be at peace, in a place where the troubles seem to superficial that even just a nice day can lift people’s moods
• ‘ordinary’ is word choice which emphasises this contrast - war is the opposite of ordinary, normal, calm, etc.

Question 5

“from which his editor will pick out five or six”

Answer 5

• Contrast between the hundreds of photos he has taken over his career, and how only the smallest portion of these will ever be seen
• Creates a sense of sadness of the many photos and people who will not be acknowledged or remembered

Question 6

“at where
he earns his living and they do not care”

Answer 6

• ‘they’ in this line could refer to refer to either the people being photographed or the people seeing the photos
• The people suffering in the war don’t have time to worry about this man taking photos, they have much bigger problems in their life
• Those who get to sit at home and peacefully browse the catalogue of photos don’t care because they don’t stop to acknowledge the real pain contained behind them
• ‘do not care’ is quite blunt/informal word choice to emphasise the harsh reality of ignorant people

Question 7

“to do what someone must”

Answer 7

• This line fits into the analogy of the photographer being like a priest, suggesting that this job is more like a vocation than a choice - the man continues his work despite it bringing him great pain because he feels he has a responsibility of justice toward these people
• Shows him as a kind person as he treats his job with respect and sensitivity as a priest would