Analysis Of War Photographer

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The author of this poem ‘Carol Ann Duffy’ is a well known English poet. She wrote a lot of poems about
varied subjects. She was born in 1955 in Scotland. Duffy’s experience in life may have affected her writings
in many ways. Her writings mostly have simple casual language and are marked by their philosophical
manner. “War photographer “is a very eye-catching, strong and effective title. The title conveys to the
onlookers the idea and theme of death, war, blood and other such aspects from a specific point of view.

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The title itself carries the theme of the whole poem and its indirect manner.

Essay Example on What Is The Message Of War Photographer

In this poem an anonymous photographer, tries to capture the readers’ attention into the theme of death and
war. Throughout the poem, the comparisons exhibit to us the clear differences, and similarities in the
subjects in this theme. The poem explores the way some humans care too little for others who are blasted
away everyday.

These ideas and others are portrayed through the photographer and his job. The first six lines of the poem
show the photographer’s own ideas .It also portrays the poet’s own ideas and how he sees this theme, and
this job of photography. The poet shows how the photographer is really inserted into his serious job.

“With spools of suffering set out…” the poet uses alliteration, metaphor as well as an onomatopoeic effect in
this line. This is used to show the rush of images and the agony they have.

The photographer is then compared to a ‘priest’ and his work a religious one. These two lines show much
more than they seem to. They may mean that what he does is a serious religious and extremely important
work. It may also mean to show the image and the arrangement of coffins which symbolizes death. The last
line is not less important, as it shows yet another comparison between these distant lands where dead bodies
are as plentiful as grass; may be even more! It quotes a few words from the bible to support this idea.

The second stanza continues the ideas of the first one. The first line shows the importance of the
photographer’s job and its accuracy. It lets us guess how dreadful and pitiful the images are. The next lines
give, yet again, a comparison of this quite place to where people die in hundreds. It shows some of the great
differences between the peaceful lives of these people and the agonies of the others in distant lands.

The third stanza has more action than the previous two. The poet now goes on to the images, rather the
memories, as they flow swiftly. The words “half-formed ghost” tries to fix an image in the readers’ minds
about the deathly theme of the poem. The photographer now stops at a memory, a painful one. The poetry
shows in these few lines humanity should be respected. How human blood is so cheap and how countries
and languages, shouldn’t really distinguish between humans.

The last stanza takes an over view over the whole affair. It shows how there are many more painful images
which we are not shown. It explores how millions of people die for nearly nothing. It shows again, and
compares how the comfortable citizens won’t really give much care to such things. It says that they will
have pity but only for short. Only as people listen to religious sermons, think for only a few minutes, and
then forget all about it. The last two lines show another point-of-view of the photographer. He ‘stares
impassively’ at a place where he should be. This place is where he lives, and does this sacred job, but yet

In ‘War Photographer’, the protagonist appears to have become inured and desensitised to the horrors
of war. For instance, the alliteration / sibilance “spools of suffering” is rhythmically read aloud with
ease and almost rolls off the tongue, implying that, perhaps due to experience, this process has
become instinctive. Alternatively, “he” is no longer affected by it, despite there being large quantities
(“spools”) of presumably quite lurid (“suffering”) imagery before him. This sense is compounded by
the simile “as though…he a priest preparing to intone a Mass”. This simile signifies that he is acting
out of a solemn duty, as a priest would, performing a ritual that may not be pleasant, but must be done
regardless. Such a sacrifice would be salient to the reader and elicit much gratitude and sympathy,
which could have been the objective of Duffy, who is friends with people (McCullin and Griffiths) who
specialise in war photography and have struggled with what they have witnessed.
with the ordered structure of ‘War Photographer’, that suggests Duffy’s protagonist still maintains a
semblance of control. Moreover, the verb “flush” connotes a toilet flush, which is essential for
cleanliness, hygiene and health. The fact the soldier cannot flush out the thoughts, suggests that they
are having a toxic, polluting impact on his life, and they are tantamount to the stale, festering
excrement.

The impact of war is presented through graphic and visceral imagery in both poems. In ‘War
Photographer’, there is a semantic field of violence, which conveys the feeling that although he is in
“rural England”, he will always be haunted by the atrocities he witnessed: “pain”, “explode”, “ghosts”
and “agonies”. Similar gory imagery is used in ‘Remains’ to much the same effect, with descriptions of
entrails (“guts”) and repetition of the word “bloody”.

Interestingly, in both poems, there are references to shadows or stains. In ‘Remains’, the “blood
shadow” metaphor implies that the protagonist will always be followed by a gory spectre, reminding
him of his actions, never allowing him closure. Similarly, a “half-formed ghost” hints at an eerie form of
supernatural punishment. In addition, the phrase “blood stained” echoes the sentiment in ‘Remains’,
that the memories are difficult to erase. Indeed, the noun “nightmare” suggests the protagonist has
been reduced to a young boy, suffering from night-terrors as an impact of war.

Certainly, ‘Remains’ and ‘War Photographer’ are two important poems that explore people being
negatively affected by war.