War Photographer Flashcards
(6 cards)
“Spools of suffering set out in ordered rows”
The metaphor “spools of suffering” transforms the rolls of photographic film into containers of trauma, suggesting that every image holds a captured moment of agony and human cost.
The alliteration of the soft “s” sounds in “spools” and “suffering” creates a hushed, reverent tone, almost like a whispered prayer, reflecting the solemnity of the photographer’s task.
The phrase “ordered rows” evokes both military precision and the image of gravestones or bodies lined up — linking the photographer’s calm darkroom to the chaos and death he records.
Duffy presents the photographer as trying to impose structure and control over war’s horror, but this fragile order can’t erase the pain within the images.
This line reflects Duffy’s message: war’s suffering doesn’t end when the fighting stops — it’s brought back, frame by frame, to a world that rarely understands its full weight.
“A hundred agonies in black-and-white”
The noun “agonies” is powerful and plural — each photograph represents a distinct, real moment of pain, highlighting the scale of suffering captured.
The phrase “black and white” works on two levels: literally describing the monochrome photographs, but also symbolising the stark moral contrasts of war — life vs death, right vs wrong — which the world often simplifies and ignores.
The quantified phrase “a hundred” suggests overwhelming volume, but also reflects how suffering becomes statistical — emotionless, impersonal, and easy to dismiss.
The blunt, factual tone of the line mimics the detached way media presents suffering — another one of Duffy’s critiques.
Duffy confronts readers with their own uncomfortable passivity, exposing how war is consumed at a safe distance—reduced to cold images and statistics—stripped completely of its human pain and emotional reality.
He stares impassively at where / he earns his living and they do not care
The adverb “impassively” reveals emotional numbness — the photographer has seen so much pain he must emotionally shut down to survive. It suggests desensitisation, not indifference.
The enjambment between “where” and “he earns his living” creates a pause, emphasising the uneasy relationship between his livelihood and others’ suffering — war as both horror and profession.
The shift to “they do not care” is accusatory. The blunt pronoun “they” generalises the public, distancing them from responsibility and showing how compassion fades once the photo is printed.
Duffy critiques a society that glances at suffering then moves on — highlighting the uncomfortable disconnection between the war zone and peaceful domestic life.
The flat, dismissive tone of the final line leaves the reader with a lingering sense of guilt and complicity.
Message
In “War Photographer,” Carol Ann Duffy explores the emotional and ethical tension faced by war photographers who must capture suffering while remaining physically and emotionally detached from it. The poem critiques society’s detachment and short-lived empathy toward global suffering, highlighting how the consumption of war imagery is reduced to a fleeting, almost voyeuristic experience. Through the use of stark contrasts between the darkroom (a private, contemplative space) and the public’s reaction to the photos, Duffy critiques the numbness of audiences who engage briefly with the horrors of war before returning to their comfortable lives. The moral ambiguity of the photographer’s role is emphasized, suggesting that while they document the pain of others, they are simultaneously distanced from the consequences of their work. Ultimately, the poem reveals the ethical complexity of witnessing and representing suffering, forcing the reader to confront the disconnect between the reality of war and the superficial engagement of the public.
Context
“War Photographer” was written after the Gulf War (1990-1991) and Bosnian War (1992-1995), two wars that were heavily covered by the media.
• The poem focuses on the ethical dilemmas faced by war photographers who have to capture suffering while remaining emotionally detached.
• It critiques the short-lived emotional response of the public after seeing war images, highlighting how people feel sympathy but fail to take meaningful action.
• The poem also explores the role of the artist or photographer as a mediator of suffering and questions whether it’s possible to truly empathize with distant portrayals of pain.
• Duffy encourages the reader to think about the ethical responsibility of both those who create images of suffering and those who consume them.
Form and structure
The poem is written in four regular six-line stanzas with a consistent ABBCDD rhyme scheme. This rigid structure mirrors the photographer’s attempt to impose order and control over the chaos of war, just like he does in the darkroom.
However, the tightly controlled form contrasts with the emotional intensity of the subject matter, creating a subtle tension between structure and suffering. Duffy shows how controlled presentation (like news reports or photos) masks deep trauma.
Use of enjambment reflects the overflow of emotion and memory, especially when the photographer is recalling specific scenes. It contrasts with the structured form, symbolising how emotion leaks through even when one tries to stay detached.
The poem’s movement is cyclical: it begins and ends with the photographer in his darkroom, suggesting a never-ending cycle of witnessing, processing, and being ignored. This structure reflects the futility and repetition of his work — and society’s apathy.
The shift from calm introspection in the darkroom to vivid war imagery in the middle, then back to detached commentary at the end, reflects his psychological dislocation — physically safe, but mentally still in the war zone.
