📸 war photographer Flashcards
Who is the poet of War Photographer?
Carol Ann Duffy
Summary of War Photographer
A man is alone in a darkroom. The mood is calm but sombre. Places that are experiencing conflict are listed. The man is revealed to be developing his photos. He is relieved to be in England away from the threat of violence. The photographer sees his photos come into focus and remembers the suffering of his subjects. He expresses a sense of vocation. He realizes that the photo will only affect the reader momentarily. The setting then changes from his darkroom to an aeroplane. He starts out the windo reflecting on the indifference of the English people.
5 key quotes in War Photographer
1) ‘as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a Mass’
- RELIGIOUS SIMILE reveals that he is aware of the impact that his photos have on the public. There is also a parallel between the job of a priest and the job of a war photographer. Both are exposed to death and suffering. The simile also suggests that his mood is sombre.
2) ‘Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass’
- Here the poet references various conflicts: troubles in Ireland, the Seige of Beirut, and the Cambodian Civil War.
- The plosives of the ‘p’ and ‘b’ sounds create a quick-fire pace that sounds like gunfire, highlighting the violence during the war.
- biblical allusion to Isiah: 40. fragility of life. insignificance of life during times of conflict, one death can mean very little
3) ‘A stranger’s features faintly start to twist before his eyes / a half-formed ghost’
- Refers to process of the photograph coming into focus in a developing tray but also gestures towards his dying agonies.
- The man is a ‘half-formed ghost’ in that his image has not yet fully appeared on the photo paper. The phrase also alludes to the fact that he has died.
- It is half a memory that is not fully remembered. The mutilated man in the picture may not be living but this image of him still lingers in the photographer’s mind, haunting him.
4) ‘blood stained into foreign dust’
- The word ‘stained’ suggests that the memories and feelings associated with war will be forever imprinted onto this foreign land. Also, it hints that people’s lives outside the West are less valuable, which further emphasizes how the pictures that will be uploaded to the newspaper would be quickly forgotten.
5) ‘prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers’
- While the readers are seemingly moved to tears, these seem disingenuous to photographer
- Half rhyme of ‘tears’ and ‘beers’, which quickens the pace in the final verse, which may represent the speed at which people forget.
Context for War Photographer
VIETNAM WAR
- ‘running children in a nightmare heat; reference to a famous photo of a girl in a napalm attack. That photo led to protests to end the war
Form and structure of War Photographer
RIGID FORM
- Sixlines per stanza
- Constant ABBCDD rhyme scheme
- The rigid form is at odds with the chaos caused by conflict and perhaps reflects the order of rural england.
- As this structure doesn’t change throughout, it can interpreted that war photographers lack the power to change anything as his work falls upon an unreceptive audience
CYCLIC STRUCTURE
- Futile repetition and continuation of past mistakes
ENJAMBMENT AND CAESURA
- Out of order juxtaposes to the rhyme trying to bring order
Key themes in War Photographer
- Photographer has a sense of duty they feel they are not fulfilling.
- They know that the public will not care enough or make a change
- Suffering
Poems to compare with War Photographer
REMAINS
- S: Grotesque imagery/horrific
Lingering effects of war. The chaos of war, Fragility of life, Suffering, Lingering effects of war, Individual experiences, Reality of war
- D: WP is the indifference of people towards the horrors of war; how people become desensitized to war, Remains is PTSD
