War Photographer Flashcards
“Rural England”
“Rural” - Connotations of peace, calm and tranquil nature of where the photographer comes from contrasting with the dangerous place in Stanza 1
“As though this were a church and he’s a priest preparing to intone a mass”
Metaphor - Just as a church is a sombre, reflective place, so too is the dark room where serious work takes place where the photographer can take in what he’s seen
“All flesh is grass”
Biblical Quote - Metaphor continuing religious imagery. Just as grass has a short life, so too does human life seem fragile and brief
“Spools of suffering”
Metaphor - Just as a spool of film unwinds into a long strip, so too does the pain the photographer has witnessed seem never-ending.
“Darkroom”
“Darkroom” – connotations of a serious, brooding, bleak place.
Metaphor - Just as the room where the photos are developed has no light, so too is the photographer in a ‘dark’ state of mind – he is disturbed by what he has seen.
“He is finally alone”
“finally alone” – ‘alone’ has connotations of isolation/ solitude. The word finally suggests the photographer has been seeking solcace/ trying to escape his memories
“He has a job to do”
Short blunt statement reinforces the detached nature with which the photographer has to approach his job.
Also suggests the important nature of his work.
“Ordinary pain”
Oxymoron. Pain is unexpected/ unpleasant – not ordinary. Idea that people in ‘Rural England’ don’t experience real pain. They experience unhappiness which can be overcome by a simple change of weather. It’s people who live in places of conflict that truly suffer.
“Something is happening”
Ambiguous sentence. An image is beginning to appear on the photographic paper.
However, the photographer is also beginning to have an emotional reaction to what he has witnessed. He’s being taken back to the moment of the photo and feeling
“a half-formed ghost”
Metaphor - comparing the developing image to a ghost. Just as a ghost is frightening/ haunts, so too is the memory of the person in the photo traumatic for the photographer.
“Blood stained into foreign dust”
- ‘blood’ connotes violence/ death.
- ‘stained’ connotes the idea of something permanently ruined, emphasising the destructive nature of war
- ‘foreign’ suggests that the suffering of people in places of conflict is ‘foreign’ to us/ unfamiliar
- ‘dust’ links back to religious imagery – idea of death and cremation.
“black and white”
‘black and white’ – literally the colour of the photos. Metaphorically represents that there is no doubt in the photographer’s mind about the suffering he has witnessed.
