War photographer

• War photographer

  1. In his dark room he is finally alone with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows
• War photographer

  2. The only light is red and softly glows, as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a Mass
• War photographer

  3. Solutions slop in trays beneath his hands, which did not tremble then though seem to now
• War photographer

  4. He has a job to do, to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel, to fields which don’t explode beneath the feet of running children in a nightmare heat
• War photographer

  5. A stranger’s features faintly start to twist before his eyes, a half-formed ghost
• War photographer

  6. He remembers the cries of this man’s wife, how he sought approval without words to do what someone must and how the blood stained into foreign dust
• War photographer

  7. A hundred agonies in black and white from which his editor will pick out five or six for Sunday’s supplement
• War photographer

  8. The reader’s eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers
• War photographer

  9. From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where he earns his living and they do not care
• Connotations with blood and violence

  The red light and glow can also symbolise a womblike safe place
• "spools of suffering set out in ordered rows"

  the reels of film are described like soldiers, or like rows of war graves. paradox - chaos and suffering are reduced to something ordered
• "all flesh of grass"

  Metaphor


  Emphasises the scale of death and fragility of life, suggests that this life is as meaningless to people at home as mowing the lawn
• "he has a job to do"

  short, simple sentence using monosyllabic words - he has to put his emotions aside, like a soldier does
• "his hands, which did not tremble then though seems to now" - irony

  He had a steady hand taking the photos, in danger. But now at home in safety he trembles, hints that he is suffering PTSD
• "rural england"

  The typical British highlight of weather, contrasting with the events in the warzone, juxtaposes the dull stability of home
• "a half formed ghost"

  The photo itself is taking form, however, the subject themselves may have been in pain, twisting
• Personal Pronoun ‘he’


  Emphasises a namelessness, that he is one of many, but also a sense of detachment and guilt in the tone
• "blood stained into foreign dust" - adjective

  Emphasis on the fact it is far away, can be read bitterly, as though why should the fact it is foreign make a difference
• "a hundred agonies in black and white" - emotive metaphor

  Dark humor, bitter. Black and white in the newspapers but also emphasis on the morality, war is black and white
• Juxtaposes ‘tears’ with the very comfortable images of ‘bath’ and ‘pre-lunch beers’


  Can be read almost angrily, their tears are meaningless and this is a small pause in their life, not of worth to them
• "Impassive"

  Without emotion, he feels numb/helpless
• "they do not care"

  Collective pronoun


  Creates an accusation-like tone. Final lines emphasise his resentment
• Tears are meaningless and this is a small pause in their life, not of worth to them
• The poem looks at conflict in the sense that he has taken photos of war and fighting
• Conflict between the warzone and 'Rural England' is highlighted
• The poet is trying to emphasise how out of touch people are about the truth of war, as well as how it is more a business or bit of gossip rather than life changing and destructive
• The poem is written in 4 stanzas with rhyming couplets interspaced with non-rhyming lines
• The regular structure can represent the order he is giving to the chaos in his photos, perhaps also the almost mechanical process he is going through and putting that distance between himself and the context
• Bitterness and regret is conveyed in key rhyming couplets and sections to highlight his difficulty dealing with the experiences
• The poem uses structure to show how he tries to make sense of his experiences
• Old style film photos must be developed in a dark room lit with red light using chemicals
• The contrast between war zones and safety of being back home is explored in the poem
• People do not understand the truth of war as a single photo cannot show everything
• War photographers do a very dangerous job, many are killed and injured as they must get in harm's way to get the photos they are after
• Inner turmoil creates conflict in War Photographer


  Conflict between what he has seen in his photos and the ghostly images contrasting with the calm life of home