Identify and Explain the Key Themes in the poem 'War Photographer'

For this activity, you will need to turn to the poem 'War Photographer' by Carol Ann Duffy, which can be found in your anthology.

The poem is written about a war photographer who has returned home and is developing his photos. The process of developing old-style film photos is rather unusual for many to understand today. Old style film is very sensitive to light, so it must be done in a dark room lit with a red light. War photographers do a very dangerous job, many are killed and injured as they must get in harm's way to get the photos they require.

The poem focuses on two main themes:

The horror of war.

Our lack of care for the people suffering in these wars.

In the following questions, you will be asked about the meaning of these themes.

You should always refer to your own text when working through these examples. These quotations are for reference only.