War photographer. Flashcards
Who wrote the poem ‘War Photographer’?
Carol Ann Duffy.
Carol Ann Duffy compares the photographer to a priest because…
…she thinks photographs can carry a message like a mass.
‘All flesh is grass’ means…
…life is fragile. It can come and go.
Why do you think the wife allowed the photographer to take a picture of him dying?
She wanted the world to see his suffering, give them a message and make them stop and help.
What is the theme of the poem?
Isolation and Suffering.
What effect does the religious imagery create?
Conveys his dedication to his occupation.
Shows how he is too often exposed to life and death.
What was War Photographer based on?
Vietnam War.
What poems could you compare to War Photographer on the theme of conflicting emotions?
Exposure and war photographer is an exploration of personal experience of conflict, with both poets depicting the ideas of the lack of purpose behind conflict.
“A hundred agonies in black and white”.
Pun dark humour, bitter. Black and white in the newspapers
but also emphasis on the morality, war is black and white.
“with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.”
Juxtaposes ‘tears’ with the very comfortable images of
‘bath’ and ‘pre lunch beers’. Can be read almost angrily, their
tears are meaningless and this is a small pause in their life,
not of worth to them.
Structure.
Written in 4 stanzas the poem features rhyming couplets interspaced with non rhyming lines. The regular
structure can represent the order he is giving to the chaos in his photos.
