War Photographer by Carol Ann Duffy

War Photographer by Carol Ann Duffy

War Photographer by Carol Ann Duffy is based on a war photographer who

has experienced and witnessed the reality of war. The war photographer

has returned to his quite home in England from his latest job. He

develops the spools of film, he took in the frontline. As he organizes

the pictures, he remembers the terrifying situation he is in, "A

stranger's features faintly start to twist before his eyes a

half-formed ghost." Then, he sends those pictures to the Sunday

newspaper, where his editor will choose the ones to be printed.

However, the war photographer knows the pictures will not have a

lasting effect as the readers "do not care" and sympathize with the

sufferings of others.

This poem is written in present tense, as if the incident is happening

now, with the effect of making the picture more alive and shocking. It

also reinforces the continuity and frequent occurrence of war, which

is inevitable. The application of third-person speaker eliminates

personal judgment on the issue and creates a more objective poem. It

convinces the readers on the reliability of the sufferings undergo by

the victims as presented in the poem and it is not a piece of

exaggeration.

The structure of the poem is in four regular stanzas, the regularity

emphasizes both the monotonous pattern of the photographer's job and

also the commonalty of war. The text starts with the photographer

returning home from one job and ends with him leaving for the next

one, to reflect the repetitiveness of his job as if his life runs in a

cycle. Furthermore, "a hundred agonies in black-and-white", the dead

as revealed from the Su...

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...ionally as he has different views from the

public towards the issue of war. He moves from place to place from

time to time and cannot possess a stable home. The speaker hints the

photographer's desire to return to rural England as in line one he is

"finally alone", which stresses that he has been waiting for this

moment for some time.

After having a clear interpretation of the poem, I feel shame on the

newspaper reader, as they are obviously more interested in their own

lives as the readers will only shed tears over the tragic photographs

as they are "between the bath and pre-lunch beers". Not only did they

ignore the agonies of the victims, they didn't express much

appreciation towards the heroic task performed by the photographer. I

really hope that the public can focus more on the suffering of others

some day.