War Photographer

• 'In his darkroom he is finally alone'

  • Double Meaning: The photographer is literally in his darkroom, developing his photographs, however the atmosphere in the room is also dark, as it is tainted by misery and sorrow.
  • The content of the images are also “dark”, in the sense that they explore the worst side of human nature (evil).
  • Adverb: alludes to the idea that the photographer is in desperate need of isolation.
  • He seems to want to detach from his grim reality (warzones, capturing conflict and suffering).
• 'with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.'

  • Metaphor & Sibilance: The repeated “s” sounds creates a spitting of the sentence, perhaps illustrating the speaker’s dissatisfaction with the ethics of the situation.
  • The speaker feels that the burden of revisiting these photos is too much for him to bear.
• 'with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.'

  • Juxtaposition: The chaos of war is contrasted against the organised structure of the images.
  • This how the photographer copes, as he tries to make sense of the horrors he has seen.
  • The ‘order’ represents lines of soldiers who are standing in formation or even in lines of bodies in graves.
• 'The only light is red and softly glows,'

  Colour & Description: The red of the room could symbolise the bloodshed that he has witnessed
• 'as though this were a church and he / a priest preparing to intone a Mass'

  • Simile & Religious Imagery: The photographer takes his job very seriously and he prepares the photos with respect and reverence and the act is almost ritualistic and spiritual.
  • Furthermore, the comparison to Mass links to the theme of remembrance: in the same way that the Eucharist ceremony serves to commemorate the Last Supper, the images are a way of the photographer paying tribute to the victims of war, who he has seen suffer.
• 'Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh.'

  • Plosive Sounds: The repetitive ‘b’ sounds mimics the explosions and bombings that the photographer would have been subjected to on his job.
  • On another level, the sounds also imitate the clicking of a camera, therefore linking to the photographer snapshotting the suffering of war.
• 'All flesh is grass.'

  • Biblical Allusion: Isaiah 40:6, “A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field”.
  • The impermanence of life is explored here with the idea that everyone must eventually.
  • Perhaps this is his way of rationalising the deaths he has witnessed (coping mechanisms).
• 'He has a job to do.'

  • Simple Sentence: the monosyllabic words reflect how the war photographer has put his emotions to the side, just like a soldier does.
  • The tone is blunt and serious.
  • The photographer is trying to disconnect from his reality, which may be crushing guilt at being a passive watcher of suffering.
• 'Solutions slop in trays'

  Sibilance & Onomatopoeia: Mimicking the noisy slapping the container, suggesting that his hands are unsteady and unstable, due to the haunting memories of what he saw and how he did nothing.
• 'beneath his hands,'

  • Preposition: The photographer is trying to control the images as best as he can, however his attempts are futile.
  • The memories are getting the better of him.
• 'which did not tremble then though seem to now.'

  • Irony & Juxtaposition: Despite being home safe from war and conflict, his hands are shaking and quivering, implying that in the warzone, he was numb and desensitised, however being home gives him time to reflect.
  • The memories of what he witnessed scares him to the core.
• 'Rural England.'

  Contrast of Setting: Juxtaposing the warzones previously mentioned, the simple sentence and description of his home highlights the abruptness he feels at war.
• 'Home again to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel,'

  • Adjectives and Bitter Tone: This feels like a subtle attack on those who are ignorant to what real ‘pain’ is.
  • The speaker takes issue with the fact that people complain about being ill when this is insignificant and trivial in comparison to watching innocent people suffer and die.
  • The adjectives ‘ordinary’ and ‘simple’ add further to this critical attitude that the speaker has towards the general public.
• 'to fields which don’t explode beneath the feet/of running children in a nightmare heat.'

  Sarcasm: The speaker’s words are filled with contempt as he references the Napalm Girl. He feels as though the people in ‘Rural England’ do not understand.
• 'Something is happening.'

  Shift in Focus: quite an abrupt change to the personal cost of war; tension is rising and an ominous mood is starting to be created.
• 'A stranger’s features/faintly start to twist before his eyes,'

  • Sibilance & Alliteration: The repeated “s” and “f” sounds adds a sinister quality to the sentence and the tension is rapidly increasing.
  • Double Meaning: the photograph is developing, however the verb of “twist” creates disturbing imagery of a distorted, mangled body.
• '/a half-formed ghost.'


  Metaphor: he has seen people die and suffer and the images haunt him.

  Caesura: The photographer pauses to look at the developing image and then stops again to contemplate the memory of this tragic story. It seems like he needs time to process his thoughts.
• 'He remembers the cries/of this man’s wife, how he sought approval/without words to do what someone must'

  • Internal Thoughts & Flashback: Emphasises that the photographer has an important role in informing the public of the reality of war.
  • Yet, he is haunted by the memories and it seems that he leans on the belief that he is exposing the horrors of war, using it as a crutch to justify his actions.
• 'and how the blood stained into foreign dust.'

  • Juxtaposition: the idea of ‘stained’, connoting the lasting impact of war, contrasts the fact that blood turned to nothing and is eventually forgotten.
  • The inclusion of the adjective ‘foreign’ serves as a reminder that this is all happening somewhere else.
• 'A hundred agonies in black and white/from which his editor will pick out five or six'

  • Metaphor: “black and white” is an idiom for something being clear and real; having the pictures printed seems to confirm and solidify the suffering they show.
• 'for Sunday’s supplement.'

  Sibilance: creates a harsh spitting of the words, reflecting the frustration that the photos aren’t considered important enough to feature in the main newspaper
• 'The reader’s eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.'

  The images are only

  momentarily glanced at, a passing sensation of sadness looked at in spare time.
• 'From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where/he earns his living'

  • Change in Setting: Suggests that he is returning to the war zone – like a soldier, he’s been home on leave but now must return to do his job.
  • He is emotionless; desensitized by what he has seen, yet he becomes the same as those he criticises.
  • It seems that, by the end, it is just a job for him.
• 'and they do not care.'

  Ambiguous Pronoun: it could refer to the readers of the newspapers who do not care about the victims of war, or it could refer to the wider world, which is apathetic about others’ suffering.
• 'the marks/ that rivers make, roads,/railtracks, mountainfolds,'

  The lack of punctuation, along with the alliteration, make the lines flow and connote a sense of freedom.