Key Quotes and Analysis of War Photographer

Question 1

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ darkroom “?

Answer 1

T- Word choice

E- The word choice has connotations of a serious, brooding, bleak, grim place: perhaps could be a metaphor suggesting the job takes the photographer to a dark place mentally: anxiety, stress and horror. This could also suggest isolation

Question 2

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ finally alone “?

Answer 2

T- Word choice, inversion.

E- Inversion places these words at the end of the line for emphasis. ‘finally’ suggests he has been longing for solitude, desperate to escape someone or something. The emphasis of being ‘alone’ reflects the loneliness of his job: separated from his subject, his editors and his readers. This suggests the isolation the photographer experiences due to his job.

Question 3

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ spools of suffering set out in ordered rows “?

Answer 3

T- Alliteration, assonance, word choice/image.

E- Repetition of the constant sound ‘s’ suggests the suffering is long and almost never-ending. The repetition of the constant sound ‘s’ and the vowel sound ‘o’ mirrors the repetition of the spools of film laid out on the photographer’s table: each sound is clearly and methodically marked out: mirroring the repetitive, meticulous arrangement of the canisters of film.

E- The ‘ordered rows’ bring to mind the image of rows of tombstones or ranks of soldiers creating a link to the horrors of war which are depicted on the films themselves, ‘ordered’ suggests the WP is trying to make sense of/restore order to the horror and chaos he sees as a result of his job

Question 4

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ the only light is red and softly glows “?

Answer 4

T- Colour symbolism, word choice.

E- ‘only’ builds on the idea of loneliness and solitude, ‘red’ symbolises danger and blood - what the WP deals in photos of. It also suggests a ‘Sanctuary lamp’ which contributes to the stanza’s extended religious image. ‘softly glows’ adds to the genteel atmosphere of this safe, quiet, lonely room back home, away from all the horror and stress of his job.

Question 5

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ as though this were a church and he/ a priest preparing to intone a mass “?

Answer 5

T- Extended image

E- The developing room is compared to a church, the photographer to a priest and his work is compared to preparations for a mass. Just as a priest gives/sacrifices his life to his work and is exposed to death and suffering. So too the WP is consumed by a vocation to record acts of war at great personal sacrifice as he puts himself in an environment which immense danger and risk.

Question 6

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ Beirut, Belfast. Phnom Penh. “?

Answer 6

T- List, single word sentences.

E- The punctuation is blunt and functional (like the photographer’s work), Sounds like a roll-call perhaps suggesting they are simply examples from a much longer list. These are places which have suffered from the ravages of civil war or genocide. The short sentences create impact, the plosive ‘B’ and ‘P’ sound like bullets and the repetition is used to show that war is repeated throughout history, will continue and is almost never-ending.

Question 7

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ All flesh is grass “?

Answer 7

T- Biblical reference, juxtaposition.

E- This is a biblical quotation. In its full context, the phrase is used to illustrate that the word of God is eternal and consistent to human life which is transient and brief. In this context in the poem this ties in with the religious imagery. It has already been suggested that the photographer is spreading an important message through his photos (as a priest spreads the word of God). This quotation develops that idea, highlighting how the suffering the photographer shoots is constantly changing and on-going but his photos succeed in capturing it and making it permanent.

E- The rhyming of ‘mass’ and ‘grass’ as well as the mention of Phnom Pehn might also invoke the idea of mass graves or burial sites, where the bodies of victims of genocide/war decompose and literally turn to grass in the soil.

E- The juxtaposition of this phrase with the list of the places is perhaps an ironic comment: yes, all human life ends eventually, but in such places as these it is ended much sooner.

Question 8

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ He has a job to do “?

Answer 8

T- Simple sentence, ambiguity.

E- Literally refers to the job of developing the photos, but also refers to his overall job of war photography. Short, simple and blunt: reflecting the blunt, matter-of-fact approach the photographer has to take to his work. Perhaps this is a justification or excuse for his job.

Question 9

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ solutions slop “?

Answer 9

T- Ambiguity, alliteration, word choice.

E- Double meaning of the literal liquid used to develop the pictures but also metaphor for the solutions to war. This suggests the solutions to war are sloppy and messy. The word ‘slop’ and the alliteration of the ‘s’ sound suggest the sloshing of the liquid. This emphasises how the ‘solutions’ (literal and figurative) are messy, volatile or difficult to deal with. There is also the idea that the solutions to war lie in his pictures that he develops. The contrast of the messiness of war and the orderliness of his home is a running theme in the poem.

Question 10

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ hands which did not tremble then/ though seem to know “?

Answer 10

T - contrast, enjambment.

E- The photographer’s hands are steady when taking the photos - they have to be, otherwise the the pictures would be blurry and unusable. In contrast, when he gets home and he does not need to suppress his emotions, his hands tremble with fear/anxiety. The enjambment emphasises the contrast by putting ‘though seem to know’ on a new line.

Question 11

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ Rural England “?

Answer 11

T- Word choice, minor sentence.

E- This minor sentence shifts the poem to the photographer’s home, The word ‘rural’ connotes a perfect, countryside life: leafy, green, peaceful, natural and calm. This contrasts with the other places named in stanza one which were exactly the opposite: urban, harsh, volatile and dangerous.

Question 12

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel “?

Answer 12

T- Oxymoron, word choice

E- Pain, by definition, is something unexpected - a reaction to something unusual and unpleasant: it is never ordinary. The oxymoron ‘ordinary pain’, then, makes the reader consider what is meant by the photographer. The kind of pain experienced in ‘rural England’ is not really pain at all (metaphorical pain), but unhappiness which can be solved by mere sunshine. This makes us wonder what kind of pain is experienced abroad: it must be terrible, agonising, serious and real pain.

Question 13

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotations “ Alone….ordered rows…only….softly glows…..as though….intone…Phnom Penh “?

Answer 13

T- Assonance

E- The vowel sound ‘o (oh)’ is repeated throughout the first stanza. This recurring sound reflects the sound of the priest intoning a mass - solemn, low and deep - adding to the serious and solemn atmosphere.

Question 14

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ fields which don’t explode beneath the feet/ of running children in a nightmare “?

Answer 14

T- Word choice

E- This seems a peculiar sentence: of course we don’t expect fields to explode. In England, fields are part of comfortable, rural life. These lines emphasise the terrible contrast between this life, and the ‘nightmare’ life in a war zone (which might contain minefields).

E- The reader is reminded of the famous picture of the naked child Kim Phuc running from a napalm attack during the Vietnam war.

Question 15

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ Something is happening “?

Answer 15

T- Ambiguity, simple sentence.

E- Just like the second stanza, the third starts with a vague, simple sentence. The ‘something’ is ambiguous: literally a photograph is developing, but something else is happening too - the photographer is experiencing all the associated feelings and memories that the photo holds for him. He is being transported back to the moment of taking the picture.

Question 16

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ A stranger’s features/ slowly start to twist before his eyes “?

Answer 16

T- Word choice

E- The photograph begins to develop. The word ‘twist’ is a verb with connotations of pain, anguish, horror or shock. This may be because the man in the photo is dying or in pain, or it may reflect the anguish of the photographer himself.

Question 17

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ A half-formed ghost “?

Answer 17

T- Metaphor

E- The man in the photo has become a ghost. This suggests his death. Perhaps too, the photographer is ‘haunted’ by the ghost.

Question 18

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ 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 “?

Answer 18

T- Word choice
E- As the photograph begins to come to life, so too do the photographer’s memories of the incident. Extra scenes are described: the sound of the wife’s sorrow and the colour/texture of his blood soaking into the earth.
The incident highlights the moral dilemma faced by war photographers. They have a job to do (“to do what someone must”) but they are intruding on each other people’s misery. The photographer obviously feels awkward about this as he seeks the wife’s permission.

E- The repetition of ‘ust’ sound like the man trying to speak to his wife with his last breath as he slowly and painfully dies.

E-Emphasises idea that the work is a vocation - the WP feels compelled to record the images to show the rest of the world theses horrific scenes.

E- Word choice: ‘foreign’ connotes distance ‘dust’ connotes idea of eternity and that the man may have been forgotten were it not for the photo.

E- Word choice ‘cries’ has connotations of suffering and pain which would be evident in that situation.

Question 19

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ a hundred agonies in black and white “?

Answer 19

T- Metaphor, ambiguity.

E- In this metaphor the photographs have become physical manifestations of pain and suffering: each one tells a story. 100 compared to 5 or 6 photos emphasises the scale of the suffering in the photos and how the WP’s contempt for the reader/ editor for their lack of understanding

E- The pictures are literally monochrome. Alternatively, there is no doubt/uncertainty about the agony in the pictures: the suffering is there to see ‘in black and white’/ is crystal clear to see.

Question 20

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ from which his editor will pick out five or six “?

Answer 20

T- Word choice

E- In contrast to the ‘hundreds’ of pictures of suffering available, the editor has only room for a very few. The word ‘pick’ and the vagueness of ‘five’ or ‘six’ perhaps suggests a criticism of the editor for being casual/off-hand when dealing with these pictures.
Word choice: ‘pick out’ has connotations of careless, casual and indifference. In the way the editor selects the pictures. reinforces how little regard we have for the people in the pictures.

Question 21

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ for Sunday’s supplement. “?

Answer 21

T- Word choice, (alliteration).

E- Supplements are the magazines and extra inserts contained in Sunday newspapers which include more varied news (often about culture, money, business, sport, fashion etc…).
There is perhaps an implicit criticism here: the photographer’s pictures aren’t considered important enough to be part of the main news section, but are relegated to the ‘extra bits’.

Question 22

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ the reader’s eyeballs prick/ with tears between bath and pre-lunch beers “?

Answer 22

T- Word choice

E- The phrase ‘prick with tears’ suggests the sensation of almost crying; considered alongside the short duration of the readers’ distress, this is a clear criticism of their shallow response to the horrifying pictures.

E- The words ‘bath’ and ‘pre-lunch beers’ also suggest luxury and indulgence which is in stark contrast to the lives of those captured on film by the photographer. (The readers are saddened but are quickly distracted by their own lives - the war photos and the subjects are soon forgotten).

Question 23

What is the technique and evaluation for the quotation “ From aeroplanes he stares impassively at where/ he earns a living and they don not care “?

Answer 23

T- Word choice, assonance, tone.

E- By the end of the poem, there is a suggestion that the photographer has become numb to his job, a little like the editor and readers. He stares without emotion (‘impassively’). The idea from earlier in the poem that he must be cold and unflinching to do his job (‘he has a job to do’ and ‘to do what someone must’) is repeated in the phrase ‘he earns a living’.

E -The critical tone of ‘they’ condemns the newspaper readers/citizens for their selfishness. The repetitive assonance of the ‘ay’ sound (‘aeroplane… stares …. where… a… they… care’) helps create a monotonous feeling of drudgery: the photographer is resigned to the way things are. The poem definitely concludes on a negative point.

Question 24

What are the key themes in war photographer?

Answer 24

Suffering, powerful memories, society, the horror of war and the indifference to the victims of conflicts.