WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
CAROL ANN DUFFY
“Photography is the truth, if it’s being handled by a truthful person.”
-Don McCullin
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.
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 bath and pre-lunch beers.
From aeroplane he stares impassively at where
he earns a living and they do not care.
The text explores…
• …the experiences of a photographer as
he develops his photographs from a
warzone.
• …the psychological damage done by a
photographer’s experiences in war.
• …the isolation and alienation felt by a
war photographer.
THEME
The following slides include examples of Don McCullin’s work; many are graphic and shocking, and all have been
taken in places either mentioned or alluded to in the poem.
GALLERY
Cyprus
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.
“Those photographs are in the background but I'm more
interested in the photographer... in the dilemma of someone who has that as a job... to go to these places and come back with the
images.”-Carol Ann Duffy
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
“I don't think I could have touched on more tragedy under one roof than I saw in that hospital that day...I've never forgotten it.”
“I don't think I was ever more ashamed of humanity”
“[The past returns] on a regular basis, as fresh as if it was happening today, to haunt
me".-Don McCullin
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
‘War Photographer’ is an excellent option for critical essays as it allows
you to deal with questions which focus on a wide range of topics such as:
• An important theme or message; • an interesting character; • a particular experience; • a specific atmosphere; • a lasting emotional response from
the reader
CRITICAL ESSAYS
Central Concerns
• Make a list of anything that you would consider to be a central concern of ‘War Photographer’
• Be able to explain why you think this by referring to specific aspects of the text
Atmosphere
• What sort of mood/atmosphere is developed throughout the poem?
• How does the poet initially create, and then further develop, this mood/atmosphere?
Personal Response
• What sort of personal response is provoked by the poem?
• Is your response emotional, intellectual or both?
• How does the poet provoke and develop this response?