War Photographer Flashcards
1
Q
“dark room”
A
- This is a place of peace and calm.
- Here he is safe from the dangers of his work.
- The photographer is an outsider.
2
Q
“spools of suffering”
A
- The alliteration draws attention to the horrific images and the fact he tries to restore order to the chaotic images with the harsh ‘s’ sound.
- Personification: spools can’t suffer but the images they hold are of suffering. Therefore, once the spools are developed they bring the suffering to life.
3
Q
‘“finally alone”
A
- ‘finally alone’ suggests the photographer has peace and relief from war zones.
- Without others around him, he is free to reflect, unobserved, on what he does and why he does it.
4
Q
“only light is red”
A
- “red” - his dark room is like a church sanctuary lamp – safe, secure, sacred; it also has contrasting connotations of blood.
- The photographer is compared to a priest and there is a definite sense of ritual in the way he develops his film.
5
Q
“set out in ordered rows”
A
- “Ordered” – he is trying to make sense of things. The spooks are also compared to soldiers – dead or alive
- As they are “set out in ordered rows.” This creates the picture of ranks of soldiers or of mass graves in rows.
6
Q
“as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a Mass.”
A
- Simile: there are two similes here. there is a comparison between the dark room and a church and between the photographer and a priest
- A church is a sacred space; this darkroom is also blessed in a sense because of the human misery that is developed in the film
- The photographer is like a priest who performs the significant actions of his job with a solemn ritual.
7
Q
“intone a Mass.”
A
- The Mass is the most sacred part of worship within the Catholic religion: what the photographer is about to do is, Duffy considers, just as meaningful and important.
8
Q
“Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh”
A
- List of places where he has recorded images of conflict.
- The use of the full stops helps to “fix” the ideas – in photography, the fixing is the final step of the process of printing.
9
Q
“All flesh is grass.”
A
- “All flesh is grass” comes from both the Old and the New Testaments: it reinforces the religious imagery and emphasises the fragility of life.
- What happens to the grass and flowers – they quickly die – also happens to us.
10
Q
“his hands, which did not tremble then”
A
- The photographer must distance himself from the subjects of his photographs. However, he is able to let down his guard in the privacy of the darkroom so he allows himself to react to the terrible suffering he has witnessed.
11
Q
“Rural England”
A
- Minor sentence encapsulating a huge idea: our way of life.
- Contrast between “Rural England” and war zones, noting how our ordinary problems can disappear easily with nice weather.
- The injustice of the situation is exemplified when he notes how our children don’t have to be fearful of landmines when they play.
12
Q
“running children in a nightmare heat.”
A
- Direct reference to a famous war photograph taken during the Vietnam War. This image helped to highlight the horror of this war and played a large part in public reactions to the war.
13
Q
“Something is happening.”
A
- The photography process is progressing.
- This injects drama and suspense into the poem. Here, Duffy allows us to “see” the horrific photograph develop before our eyes.
14
Q
“a half-formed ghost.”
A
- The photographer has captured the imagination of a man in his dying moments.
- This description is dually effective since it describes the way the figure is gradually appearing on the paper, while also alluding to the fact that since he no longer exists he has effectively become a ghost.
15
Q
“He has a job to do”
A
- These short sentences refocus the poem, bringing us back from ‘big philosophical ideas’ such as our short lifespan to the more immediate concerns of the photographer.
