War Photographer

Question 1

In his darkroom he is finally alone

Answer 1

Connotes serious, brooding, bleak and grim place
Suggests job takers photographer to dark place
‘His’ suggests he is comfortable
‘Finally’ he has been waiting for solitude, to reflect? To escape?

Question 2

With spools of suffering

Answer 2

Metaphor/ transferred epithet
Highlights intensity of pain depicted in images
Alliteration of ‘s’ makes words soft and smooth to contrast the phrase

Question 3

Set out in ordered rows

Answer 3

Clinical and objective
Reference to graveyard (ordered rows) emphasises the death the picture depict
Contrasts chaos of war and robotic way of work

Question 4

The only light is red and softly glows

Answer 4

‘Only’ solitude
‘Red’ danger bloodshed highlighted in photos
Soft ambient light. Emphasises idea of church and contrasts with harsh reality

Question 5

As though this were his church and he/ a priest preparing for mass.

Answer 5

Idea of ceremony

Highlights importance of life changing work

Question 6

Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh.

Answer 6

List of war zones
No flow/ short sentence, reader forced to consider conflict
Plosive P and B sounds
Violent, highlights horror

Question 7

All flesh is grass

Answer 7

Biblical reference
All things die
Monosyllabic sentence
Highlights suffering in photography

Question 8

He has a job to do.

Answer 8

Change emphasised by short sentence.
Photographer suppresses emotions, highlighting clinical nature
Lack of empathy
‘Has’ connotes no choice

Question 9

Solutions slop in trays

Answer 9

Harsh s sound
Solution as in ‘to a problem’
Not treating pictures with respect
Solutions are sometimes messy

Question 10

Beneath his hands which did not tremble then/ thought seem to now

Answer 10

Beneath connotes he is above those in the photos, or society thinks so
Has to stay objective but is now in a place where he doesn’t need to suppress his emotions

Question 11

Rural England. Home again/ to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel

Answer 11

Short sentence forces reader to consider the contrast
Home- selfish and comfortable
Ordinary pain- the pain experienced here is more inconvenience than real pain
Our concerns are petty and trivial

Question 12

To fields which don’t explode beneath the feet

Answer 12

‘Field’ links to rural England, emphasises contrast
Images of devistat
Highlights horror which emphasises our selfishness

Question 13

Of children running in a nightmare heat

Answer 13

Suggests horror so extreme it is unreal
Running children fleeing and desperate. Innocents suffering
Suggests chemical war fair

Question 14

Something is happening

Answer 14

Picture is starting to develop and the photographer is experiencing feelings
He is being transported back

Question 15

A strangers features

Answer 15

Stranger suggests detached sense of empathy

Features refers to specific details showing these people are human

Question 16

Faintly start to twist before his eyes

Answer 16

Picture developer
Twist connotes pain and anguish suggesting the person in the picture is in distress
Perhaps it is reflection of the photographers own anguish

Question 17

A half formed ghost

Answer 17

Picture is not fully developed but the person it depicts is also dead

Question 18

He remembers the cries

Answer 18

Distinct memory

Shows it effected him

Question 19

Of this man’s wife, how he sought approval

Answer 19

Wife dying in extreme pain, this clearly has scarred him
Man seeks approval to put wife of her misery
Approval emphasises central theme of moral judgment and right and wrong
Man seeks approval from photographer as he exploits them for a living

Question 20

And how the blood stained into foreign dust

Answer 20

Stark image
Connotes texture as it soakes into the earth
Foreign places a distance between the person and the events
The photographer is at odds with his job and his humanity
Dust has religious connotations, allusion that we all die

Question 21

A hundred agonies in black and white

Answer 21

Metaphor
Photograph is the physical manifestation of pain and suffering, each one tells a story
Shows multitude of agonies and victims in pictures
Pictures are monochrome but also there is no uncertain of the wrongness and agony

Question 22

From which his editor will pick out five or six

Answer 22

Most will be discarded
Shows how unimportant the plight of the people is to those who created an industry around it
Criticism of editor

Question 23

For Sundays supplement

Answer 23

‘Supplement’ -an additional magazine
Its not considered real news
Emphasises apathy

Question 24

The readers eyeballs prick

Answer 24

Shows how unaffected the readers are, no real tears fall
Prick highlights trivial response, emphasises apathy
Their sympathy is fleeting
‘Prick’ - a small discomfort
Suggests desensitisation

Question 25

With tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers

Answer 25

Stark contrasts between war zone and luxury

Plosive b shows poets disgust at this

Question 26

From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where

Answer 26

He surveys rural England from above

Impassively suggests lack of emotion, he is hardened by his job and the uncaring reactions back home

Question 27

He earns his living and they do not care

Answer 27

Do not care refers to readers and editor and us
Cutting statement about our general apathy
Summarative
Ends on a negative tone to make us think about our selfishness