The sight becomes an image when it is separated from the place and time in which it truly exists (or existed). An image is a sight that has been reproduced or recreated. The couch you are about to sit on, the floor beneath your feet, and the flowers you see in the garden outside your window-these are all sights. What Is an Image?Īn object, living being, or landscape that exists before your eyes in real life is a sight. We examine Berger’s arguments, add historical background on both the artwork Berger analyzes and the landscape in which Berger is writing, and compare Berger’s ideas to those of contemporary art and culture. Within each chapter, we present Berger’s analysis of how the topic is currently approached by art critics and the public, if and how mystification is present, and how he believes we should shift our thinking (in other words, our “way of seeing”). In this guide, we’ve created a chapter for each of the five topics that Berger discusses in his book.

The essays can be read in any order, and while each essay focuses on a different topic, there are connecting themes of perspective (“ways of seeing”) and mystification. Ways of Seeing is a collection of seven untitled essays, three of which are visual and contain no text. Rather, Berger urges us to pull back the curtain and look at the images before us with our own eyes. This text challenges the idea that to understand and appreciate works of art, we need experts to “translate” them for us. In Ways of Seeing, published in 1972, art critic John Berger argues that throughout history, the way we see art has been manipulated by a privileged minority to preserve their social and economic dominance.

1-Page Summary 1-Page Book Summary of Ways of Seeing

Berger ways of seeing