John Berger's Ways of Seeing

I was given task to complete during the summer which was to read the book written by John Berger, originally a TV series, called Ways Of Seeing. I will admit when beginning to read this book, I found it pretty difficult as I found it very unnecessarily ‘wordy’, shall we say. I’m not a big reader myself, but I thought it was just a little too much personally, which initially put me off reading. But it was on my list of things to do before I started University, and so I had to continue. However, I did eventually become familiar with the writing style and actually found the book incredibly interesting and very important. I wrote notes about the book as I went along, half to decipher the very wordy explanations in my own words, and because I wanted to remember my thoughts and what was actually being said. I could then read my notes if I ever want to refer back to the book, like I am doing now.

My thoughts of the beginning of the book were quite fascinating, as I have never actually taken the time to discover my thoughts on certain topics, and how I view reality, which is essentially my way of seeing. It gave me a sense of what to expect from this book and got me thinking of how I perceive things, is my own reality. 

     

Every image embodies a way of seeing, yet our perception or appreciation of an image depends on our own way of seeing.

The section that most stood out to me, as a woman, was the interesting concepts regarding prejudice of women in art history. This is something I am very passionate about and this book made me recognise something I had never really perceived as bigotry beforehand. Probably because I’ve never looked into it before. John Berger speaks of the way women are seen by others and themselves, and how they were a reacurring subject in one particular painting category, the nude.
        He questions 'the nude' and proposes a different way of seeing to the normal concept that a nude is a form of art as one is simply just naked. He suggests that being naked is being onseself, but to be nude is to be seen as an object. The awareness of being seen by a spectator is often depicted in european art, and always as a woman.
"Nakedness is seen in the eye of the beholder....They are not naked as they are, they are naked as you see them."
        Women are taught to see themselves as sights before anything else from the day they are born. They see themselves as sights to others, men, with everything they do. As a woman, I know this to be true and John Berger explains this very well. He takes the example of paintings that depict women looking at themselves in a mirror. This mirror became a symbol of women's 'vanity', and yet it is the male who paints the women naked and gives her a mirror.

Overall, I think it's worth watching these episodes or reading the book as the concepts are still very relevant in today's society.