#John berger ways of seeing camera series#
Through a series of post-Renaissance and European paintings and images, Berger examines the difference between the naked and nude, and how women were portrayed as objects. The actions of women are always being investigated and proves how she wants to be looked upon whereas the actions of men are regarded as reactions. The difference between men and woman according to Berger is that “woman is blamed and is punished by being subservient to the man” (Berger 48), they are seen as being inferior to men. A woman is always aware of every action she performs and is self-conscious. He starts by explaining that the social presence of a woman is different from a man. In chapter 3, John Berger reflects on the subject of women. With the increasing technology, the interpretation of the pictures continuously changes and move further away from the original intent of the image. The painter’s original feelings and purpose are lost and viewers are no longer able to feel the same emotions when viewing a reproduction of the picture. He mentions that because of the camera, “the painting now travels to the spectator, rather than the spectator to the painting” (Berger 20). Since the photographer is able to change the lighting and the angle, this evokes a different range of emotions from the original image. The true beauty of the images is destroyed and people get a different view of the image when it is taken through the lens of a camera. He states that when a camera reproduces a painting “it destroys the idea that images are timeless” (Berger 18). It offered multiple angles and perspectives depending on the camera and the lens. However, with the invention of the camera, it changed the way in which images were viewed. Originally, perspective, as he explains it “makes the single eye the centre of the visible world” (Berger 19). This means that the way people view art is subjective to the person. There are many factors and assumptions which influence the ways in which people view art such as “Beauty, Truth, Genius, Civilization, Form, Status, Taste, etc.” (Berger 11). When viewing art, he states “the way people look at it is based on the assumptions people have learned over the years about art. He starts by stating that “the way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe” and that “we never look at just one thing we are always looking in relation between things and ourselves” (Berger 8, 9). It is what are minds are trained to think, that men have all the power and the woman are weak following behind a man.This article written by John Berger focuses on the ways in which we view art as well as how women are perceived. He later describes in chapter 3 the correlation between men and women explaining how not only society but images have always viewed men and women differently. He aligns so many images of woman in different time periods and settings such as photos of modern women artwork and oil paintings of women which were “Nudes”. The second chapter of the book has no words, only images of woman. Some people view love as happiness and joy while others see it as hurt and betrayal. He gives another example when he states “When in love, the sight of the beloved has a completeness which no words and no embrace can match : a completeness which only the act of making love can temporarily accommodate(Berger pg 8).” It\'s amazing to me how being in love can be another type art, it can either make you or break you. This is what I was taught and it is what I remembered, its what I live my life based off of till this very day. I grew up believing in the same idea that there is a heaven and hell and that one day were all going to die and wake up to be judged by god. For example he states “In the middle ages when men believed physical existence of hell the site of fire must have meant something different from what it means today (Berger pg8).” Their perception of hell and other people\'s perspective now may be different because of what they learned and experienced versus what we learned and experience.Īs a child I not only learned these things from my parents but the mosque I started attending from a very young age. Berger explores how different people can perceive an image in their own way depending on their own personal experiences and understandings of life.īerger begins the book by explaining how many times we see things that are not actually there. Actuality becomes meaningless at that point and as the human mind evolves an individual today has a completely different explanation of what an image may mean from someone from one thousand years ago or even someone from one hundred years ago. Every image has a story or a more intensive meaning than what you many see on the outside because the creator saw the world differently.
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