war photographer Flashcards
“in his darkroom he is finally alone with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows”
-enjabment, sense of continuity, mirrors the photographers ongoing struggle with his experience
-outside world is overwhelming
-metaphor, suggests photographers contain captured moments of pain and anguish
-emphasises photographers burden
-metaphorical for wjere the photographer processes his trauma, dark room is calm and ordered unlike the chaos of war, highlights theme of detahcment
-theme of death and loss
-juxtaposition of spooling and ordered rows, contrast between chaos of war and the photographers attempt to impose order
“Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass”
-biblical allusion, emphasises human fragility in war zones, suggests life is temporary
-asyndeton in wartorn cities, creating a rapid almost breathless effect thats conveys the widespread nature of conflict
” a hundred agonies in black and white”
-hyperbole and metaphor, exagerates the suffering captured in the photos, reinforcing devstating nature of war
-monochrome imagery, moral contrast, starkness of these images mirrors the stark reality of war
-critism of media and society, agonies are reduced to images selected for publication that are consumed and forgotten, theme of apathy
“the readers eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre lunch beers”
-juxtaposition, the trivality of bath and pre lucnh beers starkly contrasts with the immense suffering in the photographs and how quickly people move on
-critique of western apathy, fleeting moments of sadness before the reader returns to a more comfortable and privledged life
-implies superficial action, people feel momuntary guilt but dont take meaningful action
“he stares impassivley at where he earns his living and they do not care”
-detachment and emotional numbness, become desensitized to his work just like the public
-ambiguity and alienated from both worlds
-cyclical tone
-his poem ends without a resolution to show the futility of his job and the continuous unrelenting nature of war
-hopelessness
form and structure
-Free-flowing reflective enjambment is disrupted by caesurae, The persona’s tone changes from emotional to cynical to convey the complex pain of the photographer
-Duffy shows a third-person perspective of a ‘War Photographer’ haunted by the photographs and memories of conflict, The perspective is detached and distant to present the photographer’s isolation, showing how conflict isolates individuals even after war, This offers a different perspective on conflict, presenting the quiet suffering of those who report on war
-Duffy’s use of third-person “they” shows the photographer’s sense of isolation
