War Photographer (AQA GCSE English Literature)
Revision Note
Each poetry anthology at GCSE contains 15 poems, and in your exam question you will be given one poem - printed in full - and asked to compare this printed poem to another. As this is a closed-book exam, you will not have access to the second poem, so you will have to know it from memory. Fifteen poems is a lot to revise. However, understanding four things will enable you to produce a top-grade response:
The meaning of the poem
The ideas and messages of the poet
How the poet conveys these ideas through their methods
How do these ideas compare and contrast with the ideas of other poets in the anthology
Below is a guide to Carol Ann Duffy’s poem War Photographer, from the Power and Conflict anthology. It includes:
Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations
Writer’s methods: an exploration of the poet’s techniques and methods
Context: an exploration of the context of the poem, relevant to its themes
What to compare it to: ideas about which poems to compare it to in the exam
Overview
In order to answer an essay question on any poem, it is vital that you understand what it is about. This section includes:
The poem in a nutshell
A ‘translation’ of the poem, section-by-section
A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Duffy’s intention and message
War Photographer in a nutshell
War Photographer was written by the poet Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate from 2009 to 2019. Published in 1985, War Photographer depicts the solitary experience of a photographer at home in England developing photographs taken in conflicts around the world. The poem comments on the personal distress of the photographer at what they have seen in warzones, and how people back home respond.
War Photographer breakdown
Lines 1-2
“In his dark room he is finally alone
with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.”
Translation
The poem narrates the moment a war photographer begins to develop the photographs taken in warzones:
A dark room is a room with low lighting designed for processing film
The narrator describes the spools of film containing images which display the tragedies of those in conflict
Duffy’s intention
Duffy alerts readers to a moment of relief for the photographer when he is alone in his dark room:
This implies the photographer’s distress in the external world
Duffy highlights the many painful images the photographer has taken in conflict which he is about to process
Lines 3-5
“The only light is red and softly glows,
as though this were a church and he
a priest preparing to intone a Mass.”
Translation
Duffy sets the scene with soft red light and religious imagery
She compares the photographer’s task with a religious ceremony
Taking Mass or taking the sacrament is a ritual in Catholicism which represents sacrifice
Duffy’s intention
Duffy evokes a solemn mood to present the significance of his work
She compares the processing of photographs of war with a religious ritual of sacrifice
The allusion to sacrifice highlights the sacrifice of those in the photographs
Line 6
“Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass.”
Translation
The poet lists several places of conflict, referring to Ireland’s troubles and civil wars in Lebanon and Cambodia
The line, “All flesh is grass”, is a biblical reference which suggests life is temporary
Duffy’s intention
Duffy’s list of warzones connects the photographer’s “spools of suffering” to particular places, highlighting the reality of the persona's job
Duffy refers to a famous photograph, “The Terrors of War”, to remind readers of the power photography can have
The biblical line alludes to the fleeting lives of those in the photographer’s photos
Lines 7-8
“He has a job to do. Solutions slop in trays
beneath his hands, which did not tremble then”
Translation
Here, the narrator tells us the photographer sees his work as a job which must be completed, a duty
The photographer, now developing the photographs, feels the impact of his memories where before he had to keep a steady hand
Duffy's intention
The narrator begins to explain the photographer’s feelings about his task to convey the perspective of a war photographer
The narrator explains that he finds it emotionally painful to remember the conflicts he has witnessed
Whereas before he had to stay in control, here, the photographer begins to weaken
Lines 9-12
“though seem to now. Rural England. Home again
to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel,
to fields which don’t explode beneath the feet
of running children in a nightmare heat.”
Translation
The narrator comments on how life in England is ordinary compared to warzones:
Duffy refers to the weather as something that causes people pain but can easily change
The narrator refers to a warzone filled with landmines and bombs:
The reference to children running through “nightmare heat” alludes to a famous photograph of a child running from a bomb in Phnom Penh
Duffy’s intention
These lines present a contrast between life in the English countryside and life in warzones to show the photographer’s displacement:
The phrase “ordinary pain” contrasts the violent action of “children running” to show the problems in England as trivial compared to those in areas of conflict
Duffy’s contrast of bad weather and “nightmare heat” shows how different things are in England compared with war-torn areas
She highlights the devastation of conflict on vulnerable children
Lines 13-15
“Something is happening. A stranger’s features
faintly start to twist before his eyes,
a half-formed ghost. He remembers the cries”
Translation
The persona describes the moment the photograph begins to develop and the image of a man caught up in conflict begins to form in the film
This reminds him of the moment he took the photograph
Duffy’s intention
These lines depict the slow-forming image reminding the photographer of the horrors of conflict:
The “half-formed ghost” implies the person in the photo was killed in conflict
Duffy depicts the agony of the man and how vividly clear the memory is to the photographer, conveying the suffering experienced by all involved in conflict
Lines 16-18
“of this man’s wife, how he sought approval
without words to do what someone must
and how the blood stained into foreign dust.”
Translation
The persona refers back to the moment he asked if he could take the photograph
He refers to the man’s death in vivid description
Duffy’s intention
Duffy depicts the difficult moment the photographer intruded into others’ tragedy:
The speaker implies a sense of duty to take the photograph
The modal verb “must” shows his sense of moral obligation to try to change things
The vivid description implies the photographer is haunted by the images and highlights again the distance between England and the war zones
Lines 19-22
“A hundred agonies in black and white
from which his editor will pick out five or six
for Sunday’s supplement. The reader’s eyeballs prick
with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.”
Translation
The narrator represents the tragedies in the photographs as numerous and with much suffering
Referring back to the photographer’s job, the narrator tells readers that of all the images developed, only a few will make it into the newspaper
Duffy describes how the readers respond to the photographs: a temporary sadness that is quickly replaced by daily activities
Duffy’s intention
Referring to the many photographs, Duffy emphasises the death toll and the impact of war to evoke sympathy from the reader
Indirectly taking on the voice of the photographer, the narrator suggests the response from the readers, despite the sacrifices of those involved, is brief and temporary
Duffy implies the English public is desensitised to war and the individual suffering of those involved
Lines 23-24
“From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where
he earns his living and they do not care.”
Translation
The poem ends with the photographer back on the aeroplane going to his next job
The description of the photographer, looking down “impassively” on England, tells us he feels numb towards his homeland
The third-person reference “they” refers to the public below
Duffy’s intention
Duffy’s poem ends without resolution to show the futility of the photographer’s job and the continuous and unrelenting nature of war
Duffy’s cynical tone comments on how the public have become numb and desensitised to tragedy in war
She suggests the photographer does not feel similar to his compatriots at home and is therefore left isolated and frustrated
Writer’s Methods
Although this section is organised into three separate sections - form, structure and language - it is always best to move from what the poet is presenting (the techniques they use; the overall form of the poem; what comes at the beginning, middle and end of a poem) to how and why they have made the choices they have.
Focusing on the poet’s overarching ideas, rather than individual poetic techniques, will gain you far more marks. Crucially, in the below sections, all analysis is arranged by theme, and includes the writer’s intentions behind their choices in terms of:
Form
The poem is a rigid, third-person narration depicting a war photographer’s complex emotions as he processes the photographs he has taken in warzones.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
The wide-reaching impact of conflict | 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 poem represents the photographer’s personal grief through the photographer’s disjointed reflections: 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 |
Structure
The poem follows a cyclical structure which ends with the photographer going back to warzones, suggesting the futility of his work, as well as a sense of continuing conflict.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
Suffering and powerlessness due to conflict | The line “they do not care” suggests the public are indifferent to the photographs he takes, and to war | Duffy’s use of third-person “they” shows the photographer’s sense of isolation |
The poem ends with the photographer returning to warzones, repeating the painful process | The ending suggests the futility of his job as nothing changes. Duffy presents a lack of resolution for the photographer, as well as his powerlessness to bring about change | |
As the photographer stares “impassively” back at England he mirrors the detachment commented on in the poem | Duffy’s poem criticises the desensitised attitude of the public towards conflict | |
The poem’s ending suggests the photographer’s powerlessness to change his life or heal his own suffering |
Language
Duffy’s imagery describes a variety of settings, from a dark room in rural England to conflict zones around the world. The contrasting imagery conveys the very different lives of those involved in conflict to those safe at home.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
Response to conflict | Duffy’s imagery contrasts a “rural England” with a warzone where “running children” try to escape exploding bombs | The contrasting settings (from a dark room in England where the photographer feels safe and alone, to a warzone where he interacts with dying strangers) suggest the photographer is caught between two worlds |
Duffy contrasts the tragedies elsewhere (“blood stained into foreign dust”) with the luxurious life in England (“bath and pre-lunch beers”) | Duffy’s contrasting imagery at the end of the poem comments on the apathy of those at home, and, thus, the continuous nature of conflict elsewhere | |
Duffy juxtaposes religious imagery with a list of warzones, “Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh” | Duffy weaves Christian ideals of peace through references to conflict: she highlights the photographer’s role as significant within society, and also presents the incongruous response of the public to war | |
The plosive consonants create an aggressive tone which contrasts the softer “priest preparing to intone a Mass” | The aggressive tone conveys a sense of frustration and anger toward the response to conflict | |
Suffering as a result of conflict | Pain as a result of conflict is conveyed in the sibilance, “spools of suffering” | Duffy highlights the numerous examples of individual suffering by referencing “a hundred agonies” caught on film |
The narrator refers to the hands of the photographer trembling as develops the photographs | The sensory experience of the photographer remembering the suffering he has seen evokes sympathy in the reader; this helps convey the emotional impact of conflict | |
Duffy describes the haunting image of a “half-formed ghost” twisting before the photographer’s eyes | Duffy comments on how the photographer has to revisit the painful experience, illustrating the individual suffering of those involved in conflict |
Context
Examiners repeatedly state that context should not be considered as additional factual information: in this case, it is not random biographical information about Carol Ann Duffy, or historical facts about war zones which are unrelated to the ideas in War Photographer. The best way to understand context is as the ideas and perspectives explored by Duffy in War Photographer which relate to power or conflict. This section has therefore been divided into two relevant themes that Duffy explores:
The Wide-reaching impact of conflict
The poem, published in 1985, refers to a famous photograph called “The Terrors of War, taken during the Vietnam War:
The powerful image shows a naked, terrified child running away from an exploding bomb
The line “children running in nightmare heat” connotes to this photograph
In the photo a photographer can be seen taking a picture of the child
This image had a powerful impact on the public at the time, and raised debates about the moral duty of those witnessing conflict
Referring to this photograph helps raise awareness of the wide-reaching impact war photography can have
The emotive reference to the children highlights how conflict affects even the innocent
Suffering and Powerlessness due to conflict
Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate in the United Kingdom between 2009 and 2019, was friends with two war photographers:
This may have influenced her to write from the perspective of a war photographer
In the poem, Duffy presents the photographer as haunted and traumatised by his work
This presents the suffering of all those involved in conflict
However, her poem encourages the public to pay closer attention to their work
Duffy’s poem depicts the suffering of a war photographer haunted by memories of the many horrors he has witnessed around the world:
She names international conflict zones he has been involved in to represent his repeated suffering
She refers to the troubles in Belfast and the conflict in Beirut to remind readers of the reality behind her poem
Duffy’s message is that these are just examples of the many conflicts around the world, and the photographer feels powerless to change things
What to Compare it to
The essay you are required to write in your exam is a comparison of the ideas and themes explored in two of your anthology poems. It is therefore essential that you revise the poems together, in pairs, to understand how each poet presents ideas about power, or conflict, in comparison to other poets in the anthology. Given that War Photographer explores ideas of suffering and powerlessness due to conflict and the wide-reaching impact of conflict, the following comparisons are the most appropriate:
For each pair of poems, you will find:
The comparison in a nutshell
Similarities between the ideas presented in each poem
Differences between the ideas presented in each poem
Evidence and analysis of these similarities and differences
War Photographer and Poppies
Comparison in a nutshell:
This is an effective comparative choice to explore the impact of conflict on those other than soldiers themselves in order to present the wide-reaching impact of conflict. Both Duffy’s War Photographer and Weir’s Poppies present individual perspectives on powerlessness and suffering due to war.
Similarities:
Topic sentence | Both poems show that conflict has wide-reaching influence by showing particular individuals affected by it | |
Evidence and analysis | War Photographer | Poppies |
Duffy shows the experience of suffering from the perspective of a war photographer remembering images of war | Similarly, an unconventional experience of grief is presented through a narration of a parent visiting their son’s grave and remembering his childhood | |
Duffy’s poem represents the photographer’s personal grief through disjointed flashbacks as he remembers those who have suffered in conflict: “a half-formed ghost” | Weir’s poem is structured to represent the parent’s personal grief as they stand at the grave and remember their son. The poem uses adverbs of time such as “before” and “after” to depict the way the parent’s life has been impacted by the loss of their son | |
The poem ends with the line “they do not care” suggesting a lack of resolution for the speaker as he realises the futility of his work | The speaker is left remembering their son at the end of the poem, suggesting their continued suffering | |
Both poets reflect on the impact of conflict by presenting the experience of grief by speakers who are traumatised by their memories and whose lives have been affected negatively | ||
The poems consider the experience of grief as a solitary one; they convey the isolation of the parent and the photographer in their settings | ||
Both poets wish to raise awareness of the effect of conflict on individual lives beyond the battlefields, at home or at work
| ||
Differences:
Topic sentence | While Duffy’s War Photographer uses a detached, third-person voice, Weir chooses a nostalgic and emotional first-person reflection in Poppies to portray the wide-reaching impact of conflict | |
Evidence and analysis | War Photographer | Poppies |
Duffy distances the reader by telling the story of a photographer in a dark-room in third-person narration. The omniscient voice of the narrator allows the reader insight to the photographer’s thoughts while emphasising his solitude | The first-person perspective of a parent addressing their son has an emotive effect, in order to build empathy for the parent’s suffering | |
However, the photographer’s emotive memories in Duffy’s poem are disjointed, caught between a detached and cynical tone of the omniscient narrator: “stares impassively at where/he earns his living and they do not care” | The parent speaks to their son, remembering intimate moments of his childhood: “I pinned one onto your lapel” | |
Duffy’s poem uses pronouns to convey the photographer’s isolation from the public: “they” | As the reader listens in on the parent’s thoughts, they are aware the son does not reply, creating a sense of solitude and an emotive commentary on personal grief | |
Though the tone and perspective of each poem is different, they both present individual powerlessness and suffering due to conflict | ||
War Photographer and Kamikaze
Comparison in a nutshell:
Both War Photographer and Kamikaze present personal and individual suffering due to conflict. The poems explore ideas related to the wide-reaching impact of conflict by describing a sense of powerlessness experienced by those involved.
Similarities:
Topic sentence | Both poems present wide-reaching suffering due to conflict | |
Evidence and analysis | War Photographer | Kamikaze |
Duffy distances the persona by showing the perspective of a war photographer through a third-person omniscient narrator | Similarly, in Kamikaze, a third-person narrative creates a distance between the reader and the poet persona, a Kamikaze pilot, to represent the distance between him and his daughter | |
The poet shows the effect of conflict on the photographer as isolating: “in his dark room he is finally alone” | ||
Duffy uses enjambment to present the photographer’s emotional reflections as he is reminded of the horrors he has witnessed | In Garland’s poem, the perspective alternates between the father’s evocative memories as he leaves for war, and the daughter’s recounting of his dishonourable return | |
Although, at points, Duffy changes the tone with caesurae to break the flow, signifying a disrupted and cynical break in voice | The shift from personal and emotional pain of the father contrasts with the pragmatic retelling of the loss the family felt on his return | |
Duffy contrasts imagery to show the photographer’s sense of detachment. The “ordinary pain” of “Rural England” contrasts with the “blood stained into foreign dust” | The speaker in Kamikaze also uses sensory imagery to describe the intimate moments the father remembers about his past as he flies to war
| |
Duffy illustrates the photographer’s sense of displacement, caught between two worlds | ||
Suffering of individuals after war is presented through memories and displacement in order to build empathy in the reader and convey the wide-reaching impact of conflict | ||
Topic sentence | Both poets represent powerlessness of those involved in conflict | |
Evidence and analysis | War Photographer | Kamikaze |
The sense of powerlessness a war photographer feels in the face of an apathetic public is expressed through the cynical tone: “his editor will pick out five or six for Sunday’s supplement” | Kamikaze’s third-person narration shows the father as silent, only present through his daughter’s voice: “he must have wondered which had been the better way to die” | |
Duffy represents the photographer’s powerlessness to change the cycle of conflict as the poem ends with the photographer returning to another war zone
| Garland presents the daughter’s powerlessness as she is told to alienate her father for his dishonourable behaviour: “we too learned to be silent”, suggesting the daughter’s broken relationship with her father was not autonomous and without clear resolution | |
Differences:
Topic sentence | While both poets suggest conflict leads to suffering and powerlessness for individuals, the poems present different relationships to home | |
Evidence and analysis | War Photographer | Kamikaze |
Duffy’s war photographer looks down upon his homeland from the aeroplane with an impassive stare. His attitude to his home has been affected by his involvement in war, as he feels unable to fit back into society | The poet persona in Kamikaze, looks down on his home from his aeroplane positively. He looks back on his childhood, describing it in sensory imagery connoting colourful treasure: “pearl-grey pebbles” and “shoals of fishes flashing silver” | |
The “ordinary pain” of bad weather presents the photographer’s bitterness toward England’s trivial problems and superficial attitude to conflict | Here, the father is convinced by his memories to return home instead of dying for his country:
| |
While both poets suggest returning from conflict isolates individuals, Duffy shows a photographer’s bitterness towards his homeland and Garland shows how the pilot’s love for his home kept him from conflict | ||
War Photographer and Remains
Comparison in a nutshell:
Both Duffy’s War Photographer and Armitage’s Remains highlight the unrelenting nature of suffering through haunting memories in the wake of war.
Similarities:
Topic sentence | Both poems highlight relentless trauma through the presentation of unrelieved memories related to conflict | |
Evidence and analysis | War Photographer | Remains |
In Duffy’s poem, the narrator describes a photographer reliving the horrors of “a hundred agonies” as he develops photographs from “spools of suffering” | In Remains, the speaker has a flashback to a moment during battle: “On another occasion, we get sent out to tackle looters raiding a bank” | |
The photographer sees a “half-formed ghost” twisting before his eyes, suggesting he is haunted by the suffering he has witnessed | His description of vivid memories implies the speaker is unable to forget the images: “I see every round as it rips through his life”
| |
The speaker in War Photographer acknowledges the futility of his job as he returns to yet another warzone at the end of the poem, aware of the passive response the public will have | The speaker in Remains is left in the desert sands, in the “here and now” without resolution (“end of story. Except not really”). | |
Similarly, both poems show the speaker’s powerful and detailed memories in order to express the haunting effects of conflict | ||
The poems’ personae are both caught between the present and past throughout the poem, suggesting the relentless nature of their trauma | ||
Differences:
Topic sentence | While both poets explore the suffering of individuals reliving memories of conflict, the poets choose to present varied perspectives | |
Evidence and analysis | War Photographer | Remains |
The third-person perspective of the photographer is distant and detached. | On the other hand, in Remains the first-person speaker conveys intimate thoughts. His personal pain is raw as he constantly relives the violence of conflict: “he’s here in my head when I close my eyes”. | |
Although the photographer is haunted by the memories, his tone is one of apathy and resignation. | The private monologue of the soldier evokes sympathy from the reader. | |
However haunted he is by the images, he still returns to a war zone at the end of the poem | The speaker in this poem confirms that even “the drink and drugs won’t flush him out” and at the end of the poem the soldier conveys his trauma: “his blood life in my bloody hands” | |
Duffy also suggests that the public easily forget the images of war they see in the newspapers: “The reader’s eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers” | ||
Although both poets criticise the trauma associated with conflict, Duffy’s persona conveys a tone of detachment and apathy which contrasts with the emotional and poignant tone of Armitage’s speaker | ||
Duffy shows the external world of conflict via a photographer and the public, while Armitage explores the experience of a soldier | ||
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