Characters and speaker

As you have seen, the main character in this poem “The Commission” by Roger McGough is the photographer. A secondary character is the little Asian girl present in both stanzas. The speaker does not intervene; he simply depicts the instances in which the photographer and the little girl are found.

The photographer

The first thing that the reader gets to know about the photographer is that he is very talented; he managed to capture the food in all its beauty:

“The food is beautifully photographed
The meat more succulent
The fruit as juicy
As you are likely to see.” (ll. 5-8)

He is probably going to be well-paid, as the photograph is to be used in a glossy-magazine:

“The photograph is to be used
In a glossy magazine
As part of a campaign
Advertising after-dinner mints.” (ll. 11-14)

The photographer clearly knows that there are children who starve in the world. Still, he deliberately chooses to focus on the table filled with food and not on the child who haunts his mind.

The second stanza presents th...