Nightmares

on Film
War Photographer
By carol Ann Duffy
 War Photography, in general.
 The photos we see in Sunday supplements, adorning posters or headlines,
are taken by real people. These people place their lives in danger, to help
us visualise the horrors of war elsewhere; wars not on our doorstep.
W. Eugene Smith said :
“My beliefs, my camera, and some film. These were the weapons of my
good intentions. My camera, my intentions, stopped no man from
falling, nor did they aid him after he had fallen. It could be said that
"photographs be damned, for they bind no wounds." Yet, I reasoned, if
my photographs could cause compassionate horror in the viewer, they
might also prod the conscience in the viewer into taking action…
...and each time I pressed the shutter release it was a shouted condemnation
hurled with the hope that the pictures might survive through the years,
with the hope that they might echo through the minds of men in the
future -- causing them caution and remembrance and realization.
Know that these people of the pictures were my family - no matter how
often they reflected the tortured features of another race. Accident of
birth, accident of place -- the bloody, dying child I held momentarily
while the life -- fluid seeped through my shirt and burned my heart --
that child was my child.”
 The “Compassionate Horror” of War
Photography.
 As Eugene Smith so beautifully says, his
goal was to instil in the viewer of his war
photographs, a "compassionate horror."
If that’s what he wishes to do to the audience
– what effect may the constant horror and
terrors of war have on the photographer?
Not for the faint-hearted.
 War photography: propaganda,
outrage and empathy…
 War photographers over the entire world “have taken extreme risks to
bring back images that are becoming harder and harder to take, either
because most armies and governments want to control their images, do
not want their PR to be compromised by the "wrong". picture, and
sometimes go as far as to give orders to "shoot the messengers" or
"embed" them; or when, as illustrated in Lebanon (Beirut), Chechnya,
Croatia, or Kosovo, the situation is so volatile and unpredictable that
every second can reverberate and end with a sniper's indiscriminate
shot. These extreme experiences trigger primitive instincts as well as
deep reflections on the definition of war, photography, and human
nature. No one came back intact. Still, pressing the shutter release is
probably the last wall these men and women have built against
helplessness and cynicism, their answer to the apathy that "modern"
consumerism usually pours out of the TV screens of the "civilized"
world.”
Shooting Under Fire: The World of the War Photographer.
by Chalifour, Bruno.
 What kind of person…
Will go somewhere dangerous and life-
threatening, knowing they might die?
 Will purposefully do a job that could kill
them?

 Is a war photographer?
“War Photographer” by Carol Ann Duffy
The poem comes from Duffy’s friendship with Don McCullin
and Philip Jones Griffiths, two well-respected stills
photographers who specialised in war photography. Duffy
is fascinated by what makes someone do such a job and
how they feel about being in situations where a choice
often has to be made between recording horrific events,
and helping.
“War Photographer” the poem
The Basic Facts:
- Who is the poem about?
- What happens in the poem?
- Where is it set?
- When is it set?
- Why do you think Carol Ann Duffy wrote
the poem?
 Vocabulary
What do these words “All flesh is grass.”
mean? http://www.biblegateway.
- Spools com/passage/?search
- Darkroom =Isaiah%2040:6;&vers
- Mass
ion=9;
- Rural
- Approval
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi
ki/All_Flesh_Is_Grass
- Impassively
 Stanza One
In your pairs discuss and note down your ideas on these points:
- What person is the poem written in?
- Is the person narrating the poem the poet?
- Is it about the poet herself?
“he is finally alone” – Why is he only now alone? What does this imply about before
the poem?
“spools of suffering” – Discuss the techniques in this line. Why is it used?
“ordered rows” – What else comes in ordered rows? Why might he set them out so
orderly?
“light is red” – Why is this? Where else do you have red light? What does this make
you think of? Connotations?
What does the concept of the “priest preparing to intone a Mass” add to the idea of the
photographer and how serious he takes his job?
Why is the quote from Isaiah included in the poem? And why with the list of places?
 Stanza One and onwards
Form: If you’re unsure, do this in pencil…
How many lines are in each stanza?
Can you work out how many syllables are in each line?
Can you work out the rhyme scheme on your poem?
Try and remember what the last two line of each stanza are
called?
Why would Duffy use such strict control in her poem?

Structure: The poem moves from a series of observations to a

clear conclusion. What is this conclusion?
 Stanza Two
In your pairs discuss and note down your ideas on these points:
In the first two lines of Stanza two – what is the contrast? (Hint: think about the
photographer…)
“Solutions slop in trays” – What is the literal and metaphorical meanings of this
phrase “solutions” in terms of the poem?
How does Duffy give the impression of the British as whiny and complacent?
“fields which don’t explode beneath the feet/ of running children” – what is
exploding?
“nightmare heat” – is an example of which technique? What does it refer to, do
you think?
Pick one of the above examples and write a paragraph using the
Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation techniques we discussed. How
much can you write and how close to Category 1 can you get?
 Onwards, ever onwards…
Contrast: If you’re unsure, do this in pencil…
In the poem, what is the contrast?
How does the contrast make you feel?
- Aware of the gulf between our lives and those of the people in the
photographs?
- Appreciative of and thankful for what we have?
- Guilty?
- Like it’s hard to relate to those in the photos?

Don’t just give an opinion – how can you prove this from the poem?
Think Evaluation!

On the next slide is a table, copy and complete with lines from the
poem that you believe show effective contrast in the poem.
 Contrast continued…
War Zones: England:
“Fields… explode “Ordinary pain which
beneath the feet/ of simple weather can
running children in a dispel”
nightmare heat
 Stanza Three
In your pairs discuss and note down your ideas on these points:
What process is happening at the start of Stanza 3? What does
this start for the photographer?
“Something is happening”. What does this sentence do to the
stanza, as a start?
Find the metaphor and analyse it.
Why does he “seek approval/ without words”?
What moral predicament is the photographer in, in stanza
three?
“the blood stained into foreign dust” – what effect does “stained”
have as a verb? Analyse the idea of the atrocity staining…
Why does the photographer feel he must do “what someone
must”?
“People travel to faraway places to watch, in
fascination, the kind of people they ignore at
home.” - Dagobert D. Runes
Attitude: Duffy’s and the photographer.
Having read the entire poem by now, and analysed more
than half… can you prove your opinions?
Remember connotations are powerful allies.

- What do you think Duffy’s attitude is to war, and how

the public deal with what happens in other countries?
- How do you think she feels about the photographer?
- How do you think the photographer feels about his
job?
 Stanza Four
In your pairs discuss and note down your ideas on these points:
Another contrast! – The sensitivity of the photographer contrasts with
what in this stanza?
“hundred agonies in black-and-white” – Firstly what technique is this?
What purpose does this technique serve, in terms of this image?
“his editor will pick out five or six” – Evaluate this phrase – how do you
feel about what the editor is doing? What criteria do you think he’ll
use?
“The reader’s eyeballs prick/ with tears between bath and pre-lunch
beers” – How long does the reader’s supposed sympathy last for?
The word “prick” accurately emphasises the point above. How does it
do this?
Is it enough to feel a little sad for a moment, whilst lounging in a bath?
Why do you think Duffy writes about the reader?
How should we react to terrible suffering in other countries?
Does the reader’s reaction remind you of anything in your own life?
 The Whole Poem.
Imagery: Duffy creates some powerful and
disturbing images in the poem. Four in particular
stand out:
“fields which don’t explode beneath the feet/ of
running children in a nightmare heat”
“how the blood stained into foreign dust”
“a hundred agonies in black-and-white”
“The reader’s eyeballs prick/ with tears between the
bath and pre-lunch beers”

Copy these quotes down!

 The Whole Poem.
Question: “Choose a poem which creates an atmosphere of despair
In the exam you get marks for what you say
about human existence. Show how the poet, by their use of ideas and
about quotes,
techniques, for ayour
leaves you with analysis
pessimistic of them.
feeling about life.”
It can be difficult for us to relate to suffering in faraway countries, and so to
make us feel anger, guilt and inevitably despair about it, Duffy has to use
disturbing and powerful images These are images we would rather not think
about, or really see. She says we, in the Western world, live by “fields which don’t
explode beneath the feet/ Of running children in a nightmare heat.” This image is
effective because we would normally associate images of children with
freedom, innocence and fun. The idea of the children running in ‘fields’ has
connotations of innocent fun and play. We also associate children with
guiltless lives, and this brings out our protective instincts when we imagine
them being hurt. Duffy does not tell us what these children are running from,
some kind of “nightmare heat”. The idea of a nightmare as our very worst fears
instigates our imaginings of horror and immeasurable pain.
In effect, this image is what happened in wars before TV news. We have all
now seen images of children badly burnt, without legs or arms. We know
while they are ‘running, what will happen to them. This image in itself is
horrific to me, as I cannot begin to imagine the pain and suffering. It shames
me to be so well off in comparison to these children.
 http://www.s-
cool.co.uk/topic_quicklearn.asp?loc=ql&top
ic_id=5&quicklearn_id=2&subject_id=19&e
bt=203&ebn=&ebs=&ebl=&elc=4
 Essay Questions.
In your answer you MUST refer to the text and to at least two
of: theme, ideas, word choice, imagery, mood, structure,
characterisation, tone…
 Choose a poem which makes you think more deeply about some aspect of
life. State what aspect of life the poem deals with and show how the
techniques used have deepened your understanding. (SQA Int. 2 2001).
 Choose a poem which creates an atmosphere of fear, mystery, celebration or
sadness. Show how the poet builds up this atmosphere and show how it
heightens your appreciation of the poem. (SQA Int. 2 2002).
 Choose a poem which has increased your understanding of any aspect of life
in the modern world. Show what aspect of life in the modern world the poem
illustrates and go on to show how the poem, both by its content and style,
increased your understanding. (SQA Int. 2 SQP 2003)
 Choose a poem in which you find the ending particularly interesting or
surprising or satisfying. By considering the whole poem say why you think the
ending is effective. (SQA Int. 2. 2003)
 Choose a poem which deals with an imaginary or real person or place. Show
how the person or place is introduced and how the techniques used give a
convincing portrayal of that person or place. (SQA Int. 2 2004)