Question

Read the following extract from Stephen Leacock’s short story, ‘With the Photographer’ and answer the questions that follow:

“The photographer beckoned me in. I thought he seemed quieter and graver than before. I think, too, there was a certain pride in his manner. He unfolded the proof of a large photograph, and we both looked at it in silence. ‘Is it me?’ I asked. “Yes,” he said quietly, ‘it is you,” and we went on looking at it.”

1. Where was the narrator?
   Why had he gone there?
   Why do you think that there was a certain pride in the photographer's manner?  [3]
2. What does the word "proof” mean in this context?
   Why did the narrator ask, “Is it me?”?  [3]
3. Which of the narrator's facial features had the photographer altered?  [3]
4. What was the only part of the narrator's face that seemed original in the photograph?
   How did the photographer plan to ‘fix’ this?  [3]
5. At the end of the story, the narrator flies into a rage.
   What makes him angry?
   How would you justify the narrator's angry outburst?  [4]

Answer 1

1. The narrator goes to the Photography studio.
   He went there to get his picture taken.
   The photographer took pride in his work — he did not like the narrator's looks yet made sure that his photograph turned out well.
2. The word "proof" means A trial/sample impression of a print before final printing.
   The narrator could not recognise himself in the photograph because everything had been altered! It did not look like him, and his face bore no resemblance to the narrator’s.
3. Eyes, eyebrows, forehead, hairline and mouth — these facial features altered the photographer.
4. The narrator's face that seemed original in the photograph is his ears.
   Through a process called the Sulphide — he could remove the ears entirely and replace them.
5. The narrator was furious because the photograph had no original facial features and did not look like his face.
   Justified — his patience had been pushed to the extreme — felt offended/humiliated at the needless intervention — an attempt at body shaming — hurt his sense of self-worth and self-image.