Ways of Seeing

John Berger's one of Europe's most influential Marxist critics, yet draws strong and contradictory reactions to his writing. He was an incredible informative, but has been accused of falling prey to "ideological excesses" and praised for his "scrupulous" observations on art and culture. Berger started his work off as a series on television. The main idea he discussed in numerous of his books was, “the way we establish our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but words can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it” (97). We presume all things are believable and think that everyone sees what I see. When really everyone thinks about things differently and sees things from another perspective.

The main point in Berger's argument in Ways of Seeing is that art work is not what it used to be. The way we look at things has drastically changed in the past century. For instance, photography and the ability to replicate and edit images have become more popular. Original images are being easily replicated and can be photo shopped so much to where they don’t even look like the same image. The meaning of these works of art is changing in two ways. First the meaning that the art work conveys to the audience is changing mainly because our way of thinking about things has changed within the last century. Secondly, the monetary value of the art work is changing. Berger refers to art as a thing for all classes of people not just a privileged few. The physical work is no longer the value it’s the rare part of the art that is becoming more important.

Many people presume things that are believable and think everyone sees what I see. Berger pointed out, “all images are manmade” (98). Every painting leaves room for interpretations and depending on the person it determines what you think about it. Another thing that can affect the way someone looks at a painting is the way the painting is represented. People tend to add assumptions to many considering beauty and civilization.

The beginning is the hand of the painter, which Berger shows has many perspectives. The intent of the painting can go beyond what the author originally had in mind. Berger describes this as mystification. The majority of the people that had access to the beautiful art work were the bourgeoisie. Owning one became a status symbol. Secondly, is becoming the subject of art. Very few people back then could afford the paints and materials needed to create art. This was quite a tragedy that interfered with sending visual messages.