Ways of Seeing is a book that talks about attitudes and observations. Berger states “When an image is presented as a work of art, the way people look at it is affected by a whole series of learnt assumptions about art. Assumptions concerning: Beauty, Truth, Genius, Civilization, Form, Status, Taste, etc.” (pg 11) The observer’s experiences in life also color their view and interpretation of the art.
There were some explanations of attitudes that seemed assumptive and biased. There are several references to women enjoying being looked at, watched, therefore many nude painting have the woman looking out at her observer. Berger states “Thus she turns herself into an object…an object of vision: a sight.” (pg 47)There can be a natural beauty in paintings of nudes, and yet some of the attitudes described and shown by the paintings pictured seemed to discount that possibility.
It was interesting how much status figured into the paintings of much earlier times. Two paintings of people smiling are shown with the following paragraph.
“These people belong to the poor… Here the painted poor smile as they offer what they have for sale. (They smile showing their teeth, which the rich in pictures never do.) They smile at the better-off – to ingratiate themselves, but also at the prospect of a sale or a job. Such pictures assert two things: that the poor are happy, and that the better-off are a source of hope for the world.”(pg 104)
The last chapter of the book addresses publicity. The author speaks of it offering free choice for both purchaser and manufacturer, proposing that we transform ourselves. This is done with photographs and layouts of successfully transformed persons. Berger says “Publicity is always about the future buyer. It offers him an image of himself made glamorous by the product or opportunity it is trying to sell…Being envied is a solitary for of reassurance.” (p132-133)
This book was first published in 1972 in Great Britain. Some of the attitudes seem narrow and heavy-handed in our day. So the name of the book seems appropriate. Ways of Seeing is the opinion of the author and how he sees the world of art.
