War Photographer Flashcards
War Photographer
Who wrote the poem War Photographer?
Carol Ann Duffy
War Photographer
What are the feelings and attitudes in the poem?
- PAIN - The photographs depict real pain (A hundred agonies) and there’s also the emotional pain of the woman who’s lost her husband. The horrific pain of war is contrasted with the “ordinary” pain back home.
- DETACHMENT - The photographer is detached from his emotions in the war zones so he can do his job. The words “finally alone” and “impassively” suggest that he’s also detached from the “ordinary” life in England.
- ANGER - The poem ends with a sense of anger at the people who don’t care about the suffering of others.
War Photographer
What is the poem about?
- A war photographer is in his darkroom, developing pictures that he’s taken in war zones across the world. Being back in England is a big contrast - it’s safe and calm compared to where he’s been.
- A photo begins to develop, and the photographer remembers the death of the man, and the cries of his wife.
- The final stanza thinks that they don’t really care about the people and places in the photographs.
War Photographer
What are the themes in War Photographer?
- Effects of conflict
- Reality of conflict
- Memory
- Negative Emotions - Anger
- Negative Emotions - Guilt
- Individual Experiences
War Photographer
What is the Form, Structure and Language?
- FORM - The poem has 4 stanzas of equal length and a regular rhyme scheme - it is “set out in ordered rows” like the photographer’s spools, echoing the care that the photographer takes over his work. The use of the enjambment reflects the gradual revealing of the photo as it develops
- STRUCTURE - The poem follows the actions and thoughts of the photographer in his darkroom. There’s a distinct change at the start of the third stanza, when the photographer remembers a specific death. In the final stanza, the focus shifts to the way the photographer’s work is received
- RELIGIOUS IMAGERY - The references to religion make it sound almost as if the photographeris a priest conducting a funeral when he’s developing the photos - there’s a sense of ceremony to his actions.
- CONTRASTS - The poem presents “Rural England” as a contrast to the war zones the photographer visits. The grieving widow is compared with people in England whose eyes on “prick/with tears” at the pain. Ironically, the photographer is detached in the war zones but deeply affected at home.
- EMOTIVE LANGUAGE - The poem is full of powerful, emotive imagery which reflects the horrors of war seen by the photographer and captured in his photos. Like the photographer, Duffy tries to represent the true horror of conflict in her work in order to make the reader think about the subject.
War Photographer
What are some quotes from the START of the poem and what are the meanings behind them?
“In his darkroom he is finally alone with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.” (contrast)
Darkroom - The phrase tells us where he is, but “dark” also hints at the subject matter of his photographs.
Spools of suffering set out in ordered rows - The reels of film are described like soldiers, or like rows of war graves. Paradox - chaos and suffering are reduced to something ordered.
“as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a Mass”. (religious imagery)
“Belfast”. “Beirut”. “Phnom Penh”. “All flesh is grass”
as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a Mass - This simile shows the seriousness of his work. This is a solemn act, almost like a funeral mass.
“Belfast”. “Beirut”. “Phnom Penh”. (contrast) - The succession of plosive sounds breaks the soft mood like gunfire
“All flesh is grass” (religious imagery) - This is a quote from the Bible (Isaiah 40:6) which means that human life is temporary.
“He has a job to do” (form) - Short, simple sentence using monosyllabic words - he has to put his emotions aside, like a soldier does.
“his hands, which did not tremble then” (contrast) - Irony - he was calm in the face of horrors, but now they affect him.
“of running children in a nightmare heat” (emotive language) - May be a reference to a Vietnam War photo. The link hints at the importance of the photographer’s work, as the photo is sometimes credited with helping to end the war.
War Photographer
What are some quotes from the MIDDLE of the poem and what are the meanings behind them?
“Something is happening. A stranger’s features faintly start to twist before his eyes, a half-formed ghost.”
“Something is happening” (structure) - Turning point (volta) in the poem. The focus switches to the personal cost of war - he’s remembering a specific death and its impact.
“A stranger’s features” (emotive language) - Focusing on 1 photo and family makes this personal and emphasises the real suffering of war.
“faintly start to twist before his eyes, a half-formed ghost” (emotive language) - He’s “half-formed” because the photograph is still developing, but also suggests his body’s been mutilated.
“to do what someone must” - Emphasises that he has an important role in informing the public of the reality of war.
“blood stained into foreign dust”(emotive language) - Reminder that this is all happening somewhere else. “stained” hints at the lasting impact of war.
War Photographer
What are some quotes from the END of the poem and what are the meanings behind them?
“A hundred agonies in black and white” (emotive language) - Emotive metaphor to describe his photos. Having the pictures printed seems to confirm and solidify the suffering they show.
“Sunday’s supplement” - The sibilant and plosive sounds make the reader almost spit the words out. This may hint at frustration that the photo’s aren’t considered important enough to feature in the main newspaper.
“The reader’s eyeballs prick - “prick” suggests pain, but only a small amount of pain for a short time. This suggests the readers will quickly forget about the photos.
“with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers. - The internal rhyme of “tears” and “beers” emphasises the short duration of the readers’ pain - the tears will quickly be replaced with beers.
Sunday’s supplement - the magazine that comes with the Sunday newspaper.
