1. War Photographer Carol Ann Duffy

2. Real Photographers
“The dilemma for the photographer... is the question of what to do - do I take the photograph? Or do I do something to help?”
“I remember all the associations connected to that photograph... it may just be a body, but I might know whose body that is.”
Ken Guest
(Afghan war photographer)

3. Excerpt from documentary
War Photographer (2001)
Directed by Christian Frei
Experience of James Nachtwey
"The worst thing, as a photographer, is to feel that I'm benefitting from someone else's tragedy. This idea haunts me . . ." - James Nachtwey

4. War Photographer
In his darkroom he is finally alone with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows. The only light is red and softly glows, as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a mass. Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass. 6 He has a job to do. Solutions slop in trays beneath his hands which did not tremble then though seem to now. Rural England. Home again to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel, to fields which don't explode beneath the feet of running children in a nightmare heat. 12

5. Something is happening
Something is happening. A stranger's features faintly start to twist before his eyes, a half formed ghost. 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 A hundred agonies in black-and-white from which his editor will pick out five or six for Sunday's supplement. The reader's eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers. From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where he earns his living and they do not care. 24

6. Markup
In his darkroom he is finally alone with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows. The only light is red and softly glows, as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a mass. Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass. He has a job to do. Solutions slop in trays beneath his hands which did not tremble then though seem to now. Rural England. Home again to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel, to fields which don't explode beneath the feet of running children in a nightmare heat.
End Rhyme Allusion Imagery Simile Consonance/Assonance Metaphor Ambiguity Enjambment Third person pronoun Juxtaposition

7. Markup
Something is happening. A stranger's features faintly start to twist before his eyes, a half formed ghost. 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. A hundred agonies in black-and-white from which his editor will pick out five or six for Sunday's supplement. The reader's eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers. From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where he earns his living and they do not care.
End Rhyme Allusion Imagery Simile Consonance/Assonance Metaphor Ambiguity Enjambment Third person pronoun Juxtaposition

8. Form 9-12 Syllables 4 stanzas Rhyming couplets
6 lines each
24 lines total
9-12 Syllables
Rhyming couplets
Separated by one line
Trying to set order in chaotic emotions
Enjambment in most lines
Third person pronouns
(He, his, they)
Detachment from job
Distancing of Rural England from war zones

9. Literal Meaning Speaker: a war photographer Returned home after war
Trauma after experiences
Haunting images of war
Contrast of war zone and England
Develops pictures and remembers when and why it was taken
Editor choses pictures good enough for audience
Cycle is closed
Photographer goes to another war

10. Figurative Meaning and Ideas
Contrast of war zone and daily life in England
Carelessness and safety of common people
Disasters of war
Indifference of common people towards war
Only care on a superficial level
Strong images are considered inappropriate
War is censored by editors of audience
Difficulty of portraying a war without feeling guilty
Photographers dilemma when taking pictures
Traumatic images from war

11. Allusions Biblical Allusion War Zones “Sunday supplement” (21)
“All flesh is grass” (6)
From Isaiah 40:6-8
Life is fleeting and transient, a reminder that we are all mortal
War Zones
“Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh.” (6)
Globalizing poem
Contrast to “Rural England” (9)
“Sunday supplement” (21)
War is mentioned along with football games and traffic jams
Weekend headlines program
Press censoring information

12. Ambiguities
“A stranger's features / faintly start to twist before his eyes, / a half formed ghost” (13-15)
Developing pictures
Picture of dead person
Haunting memories
“A hundred agonies in black-and-white” (19)
Good vs. evil
Monochromatic colors
Numb feeling while printing picture

13. Figurative Language Metaphor/Simile Juxtaposition Imagery
“Spools of suffering set out in ordered rows” (2)
“As though this were a church and he / a priest” (4-5)
Juxtaposition
“Fields which don’t explode beneath the feet” (11)
“Pain which simple weather can dispel” (10)
“He earns his living and they do not care” (24)
Imagery
“Blood stained into foreign dust” (18)
“The reader’s eyeballs prick / with tears” (21-22)

14. What do you think?
How would being a war photographer affect your morals and ideals?
Do you think its correct for people to photograph what others are grieving and suffering for?

15. Bibliography http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=103194 Video:
Pictures:
Information: