War Photographer

• “he a priest preparing to intone a mass”


  • Duffy makes use of contrast here, comparing a peaceful ceremony such as a mass to this man laying out photos of horrible, violent images of war
  • Shows how much care he takes when developing the images, he treats his job with respect
  • Could be parallelism between him as a war photographer seeing a lot of pain and death, and a priest seeing the same regularly
• "Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh"


  • Duffy creates a list of places destroyed by violent wars, and this emphasises the sheer amount of violence taking place across the world, and the sheer variety of people affected
  • Creates a depressing mood as it could be used to show that suffering has no bias, anywhere can be affected by war
• "which did not tremble then

  though seem to now"


  • Contrast between the man's life before and after having this job for a long time (did not/then...though/now)
  • Shows the impact this work has had on him, he is physically shaking with anxiety because of all the horrors he has been subjected to
• "Home again

  to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel"


  • More contrast between the life of the photographer and those whom he photographs
  • He is able to go home and be at peace, in a place where the troubles seem to superficial that even just a nice day can lift people's moods
  • 'ordinary' is word choice which emphasises this contrast - war is the opposite of ordinary, normal, calm, etc.
• "from which his editor will pick out five or six"


  • Contrast between the hundreds of photos he has taken over his career, and how only the smallest portion of these will ever be seen
  • Creates a sense of sadness of the many photos and people who will not be acknowledged or remembered
• "at where

  he earns his living and they do not care"


  • 'they' in this line could refer to refer to either the people being photographed or the people seeing the photos
  • The people suffering in the war don't have time to worry about this man taking photos, they have much bigger problems in their life
  • Those who get to sit at home and peacefully browse the catalogue of photos don't care because they don't stop to acknowledge the real pain contained behind them
  • 'do not care' is quite blunt/informal word choice to emphasise the harsh reality of ignorant people
• "to do what someone must"


  • This line fits into the analogy of the photographer being like a priest, suggesting that this job is more like a vocation than a choice - the man continues his work despite it bringing him great pain because he feels he has a responsibility of justice toward these people
  • Shows him as a kind person as he treats his job with respect and sensitivity as a priest would