war photographer

• Poems to compare with:

  Remains- memory of the events always being there

  Exposure- effect of war on people

  Charge of Light Brigade- power of the media in war and also a sense of duty to others

  London- corruption within a system
• looks at the power of a photograph in conflict
• Context: this poem makes reference to the Vietnam war and a photo of a girl running from Napalm bombs
• the war ended two reasons: unsuccessful military operations and American population in protest of it
• themes of suffering, despair and guilt
• 'in his darkroom' a 'darkroom' is a place where photos are developed. It also shows a place of no light and hope
• photograph was powerful because it railed support for anti war movement and led to the end of the Vietnamese war
• 'he is finally alone' shows a separation from conflict, he is separated from the chaos, guilt and any effects of war
• 'spools of suffering set out in ordered rows' the images show the suffering of war. Suffering is personified showing it is a controlled figure. The juxtaposition of the chaos possessed in the images and the process of images
• 'the only light is red' this shows the process of developing the images, it also shows that his internal thoughts are of suffering and of pain
• 'as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a Mass' uses religious simile to show he is aware of the impact he has on people, the photo have an impact on the public . It also shows he is asking for forgiveness of his own sins
• The first stanza has a semantic field of religion
• 'Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh' this references various conflicts
• 'all flesh is grass' this reduces the value of human life. It further shows that wars repeat themselves. In War, flesh and human life is not presented as significant
• ''He has a job to do.' the caesura shows that he views his actions as just for business, shows he has a job to complete. This breaks away from his guilt and thoughts
• 'solution slop in trays' highlights the photos are the solution to end the war, it also shows the development of the photos
• 'which did not tremble then though seem to now' shows that the guilt has set in, it also shows that at the scene of the conflict he was calm but now he is agitated
• ' to fields which don't explode beneath' this juxtaposes to 'Rural England'. This shows that he has a clear image of what he has seen
• 'the feet of running children in nightmare heat' the use of 'nightmare' shows is was a horrific experience and this is also an allusion to the Napalm bombs
• 'Something is happening.' The ambiguity in war is presented as terrifying
• 'A stranger's features faintly start to twist before his eyes' this shows that the photo is coming into focus and developing. It also shows that the image is becoming clear to the photographer, he is able to see the graphic images
• 'a half-formed ghost' shows that the photograph in front of him is coming back to life, signs of trauma
• 'he remembers the cries' shows he has seen the signs of suffering. The auditory imagery used here develops the horrific reality of war
• 'he sought approval' shows he is aware that his presence and camera are intruding and that he never asked for approval
• 'blood stained into foreign dust' shows the blood shed is always apart of the photographs, also shows he will always remember it
• 'a hundred agonies in black and white' the metaphor shows that the pain is being documented
• 'his editor will pick out five or six' the verb 'prick' not only shows a degrading of the situation but also the objectification of the situation, they are not seen and real people but rather as an entertaining story to be put into the newspaper
• 'the reader's eyeballs prick' the verb 'prick' shows that it is only a small amount of pain they feel, showing it does not effect them. They do not have a genuine and emotional response
• 'with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers' this shows that the images are horrid but the people do not care about it or just do not focus on it
• 'he stares impassively at where he earns his living and they do not care' shows that he earns a living in places of lots of death, shows the distance, although he is not involved in the conflict he is effected by it. This also shows the lack of sympathy and empathy people show by not having a care about it