war photographer
Carol ann duffy
Published: 1985
Birth – Date: 1955 - ?
Monarch: Elizabeth II
Prime Minister: Margaret Thatcher
Nationality: Scottish
Duffy was inspired to write this poem by her friendships with war photographers, Don McCullin and Phillip Jones Griffiths. She was especially intrigued by the challenge faced by these people whose job requires them to record traumatic events without being able to directly help.
who is Carol ann duffy?
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Carol Ann Duffy is a poet and playwright.
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Duffy was born in Glasgow on the 23rd of December 1955 and was the first child of May Black and Frank Duffy.
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May was Irish, and Frank had Irish grandparents, they had four sons.
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They moved to Stafford where her father worked for English Electric and managed Stafford Rangers Football Club in his spare time.
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Duffy attended a Roman Catholic Primary and Middle school and then Stafford Girls’ High.
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Her early passion for reading and writing was encouraged by two of her English teachers and developed by the poet-artist Adrian Henri. She lived with him until the age of 16 in 1982.
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She went to the University of Liverpool and earned a degree of philosophy in 1977. She had already published 3 poetry collections.
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She won the National Poetry Competition in 1983 and an Eric Gregory Award the following year, making her more well known.
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Anvil Poetry Press became her publisher with Standing Female Nude in 1985, this is where War Photographer was featured.
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Duffy became a lecturer in poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University in 1996, by which time she was living with the writer Jackie Kay, and had a daughter, Ella (Born in 1995).
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She became the Creative Director of MMU Writing School. She had wrote plays, edited anthologies, made poetry for children, etc.
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There was speculation that she would become Poet Laureate on the death of Ted Hughes in 1999, but the post went to Andrew Motion.
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Appointed Poet Laureate in 2009, Duffy has made sure that poetry does make its mark in national discussions and debate, publishing her poems in newspapers and the radio.
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In 2009, she accepted the post of Poet Laureate, making her the first female, Scottish Poet Laureate in the role’s 400-year history. She is also the first openly bisexual Laureate.
What is a War Photographer?
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Don McCullin and Phillip Jones Griffiths are well known war photographers and are good friends with Carol Ann Duffy. This formed her interest in war photography.
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Duffy describes an old method of developing photos, as most recent photographers have digital cameras.
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War Photographers take pictures of war-torn countries to help communicate their stories to their country. They bring the reality of war to the forefront and try to spread awareness of life-ruining war.
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Duffy makes it clear that these wars are happening across the world, from Europe (Belfast), to the Middle East (Beirut) to Asia (Phnom Penh).
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War Photographers must make challenging decisions and cannot help the suffering around them. They place themselves in dangerous situations, to tell the world what dangers people are in.
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Many photographers, after serving their duty keep remembering the traumatic scenes they had to capture and witness.
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“War photography involves photographing armed conflict and its effects on people and places. Photographers who participate in this genre may find themselves placed in harm's way and are sometimes killed trying to get their pictures out of the war arena.”
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Conflict photography has never been more dangerous. Since 1992, 1,197 journalists have been violently killed trying to do their job. In 2015, that figure stood at 109.
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At one point in 2015 around 30 individuals were being held by the regime and rebels who do not view western photojournalists as trying to expose the abuses of dictators, but instead as sworn enemies of the jihadist movement.
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Nowadays, many people are desensitised by photos of war, meaning they have seen similar images of war and are now used to seeing it. Although, many war photographers still risk their life to get the message across of the pain and torture people go through.
what is: Female standing nude?
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Female Standing Nude is a collection of poems, in which War Photographer is placed in. Female Standing Nude covers topics of memory, politics, gender, childhood and place.
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One of her best-known poems Education for Leisure is in this collection as well.
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Female Standing Nude won the Scottish Arts Council Award.