“War Photographer” initially appeared in Carol Ann Duffy’s first published collection of poetry, Standing Female Nude (1985). The poem depicts a photographer developing pictures he has taken in different war zones and reflecting on the pain and trauma inflicted by war on both soldiers and society more broadly. It is situated towards the end of the collection (the fortieth poem out of fifty-one total poems) and builds on themes that are present throughout the book, such as religion, the role of art in society and history, and memory. The poem also fits into Duffy’s collection structurally and stylistically, as it mainly employs free verse paired with rhyming couplets at the end of each stanza. Throughout Standing Female Nude, and in later work, Duffy mixes poetic forms to create emphasis and nuance. Deryn Ree-Jones, in her book on Carol Ann Duffy, describes the collection as marking a shift in Duffy’s work from “the personal and Romantic lyric to a dramatic one.” “War Photographer” embodies this shift by training Duffy’s focus on a character other than herself and using literary techniques including symbolism and juxtaposition to dramatize the photographer’s work in the darkroom.
Scholars have speculated about the specific photograph or photographer referred to in “War Photographer.” Some believe that the poem is based on the experiences of Don McCullin, a photographer who was friends with Duffy. McCullin discusses his own experience grappling with trauma while working in a darkroom in his book, Shaped by War. Other scholars note that the photograph described in the poem—specifically the reference to “fields which…explode beneath the feet / of running children in a nightmare heat”—invokes Nick Ut’s famous photograph, “Napalm Girl.” This disturbing, Pulitzer Prize-winning image shows children running down a street after being struck by a napalm bomb during the Vietnam War.
