War Photographer

by Carol Ann Duffy

Lesson Objectives

Understand what a war-photographer or photojournalist does.

Think about the motivation behind photojournalism.

Consider why this profession might make an interesting subject for a poem.

You have to see things other people don't want to see, and you have to do your job. (Colin Crawford - Los Angeles Times)

Working in a war zone is a compromise...between the perfect shot and staying alive.The dilemma for the photographer...is the question of what to do - do I take the photograph? Or do I do something to help? (Ken Guest - Freelance journalist & photographer)

Are you going to run the hell away, or are you going to jump right in... because you wanna take pictures? (Uriel Sinai - Israel)

'My stress is nothing compared with civilians and soldiers. I remind myself of that all the time. I don't have to be there – they don't have the choice.' (Gary Knight - photographer)

Themes you identified:•controversy surrounding the job: documenting tragedy but not helping; remaining detached

•The duty of war photographers to tell important political, social stories; the power to cause change in the world.

•The emotional aspect of dealing with traumatic and heart-breaking matters on a daily basis.

Without even reading the poem, you've identified 3 central concerns of the text. As you work through analysing the poem today, keep these three themes in mind: what does Carol Ann Duffy have to say about them?

In his darkroom he is finally alonewith spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.The only light is red and softly glows,as though this were a church and hea priest preparing to intone a Mass.Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass.

•reminds of altar lantern used during a mass•red connotes blood/danger

suggests he is glad of the isolation

Inversion emphasises 'alone' = an outsider?

•contrasts with chaos of war: he tries to make sense of what he sees•image of coffins? armies?

atmosphere of calmsimile

comparing photographer to priest

•list of places affected by conflict.•like a roll-call; blunt, emotionless?•Single, double syllable names sound staccato = shortness of life? gunfire?

biblical quoteextends 'priest' imageemphasises the

perhaps a Mass for the dead?taken with 'Phnom Penh' + ' flesh is grass' may invoke idea of mass grave?

connotes lack of emotion

What is being said about human life?

Isaiah 40:6-8 (The Word of God Stands Forever)"All flesh is grass,and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.The grass withers, the flower fadeswhen the breath of the Lord blows on it;surely the people are grass.The grass withers, the flower fades,but the word of our God will stand forever."

Why does Duffy quote this phrase at the end of stanza one?

He has a job to do. Solutions slop in traysbeneath his hands which did not tremble thenthough seem to now. Rural England. Home againto ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel,to fields which don't explode beneath the feetof running children in a nightmare heat.

•Blunt short sentence conveys the blunted emotions necessary to keep doing the job.•Perhaps a justification/excuse?

Double meaning

•word choice: messy contrasts with order•suggests solutions to problems aren't simple

•contrast: past/present•makes reader consider why his hands only tremble now

Brings to mind prizewinning and politically powerful photo of Kim Phuc in Vietnam

•Minor Sentence: links back to other place names. •Rural England is in contrast

•words emphasise how calm and normal home life is.•contrast with horrific conditions abroad•oxymoron - 'ordinary pain'

Something is happening. A stranger's featuresfaintly start to twist before his eyes,a half-formed ghost. He remembers the criesof this man's wife, how he sought approvalwithout words to do what someone mustand how the blood stained into foreign dust.

oShort simple sentenceoEnigmatic

Literally describes faint revelation of pictureConnotations of pain, discomfort, or face of someone experiencing this.

Sense: soundPicture holds vivid associations for the photographer

justification for his job'someone' has to do it

oMetaphoroSubject of photo may be deadoIdea of the photographer being 'haunted' by his photos/memories

Sense: colour (contrasts with red of developing room

A hundred agonies in black-and-whitefrom which his editor will pick out five or sixfor Sunday's supplement. The reader's eyeballs prickwith tears between bath and pre-lunch beers.From aeroplane he stares impassively at wherehe earns a living and they do not care.

Metaphor: photos are physical manifestations of human suffering

Literally monochrome picturesMetaphorically: the agony is blunt and clear to see.

relaxed attitudecontrasts with photographer's anguish

= 'Almost' cryEmphasises shallowness of response

the extra bit not 'real' news

oemotionless: why?ojust a job?

oLeisurely activitiesoemphasises the contrasts with horrific events abroad.oReader is only upset for a short time

emphasises selfishness of Brits