Analyzing John Berger's 'Ways Of Seeing'

Berger's "Ways of Seeing" VS. My Own There are numerous ways to "see" a picture. One person's life can, and will affect the way in which they view the painting. I do not agree with Berger's way of thinking throughout "Ways of Seeing". I feel that his opinions are contradictory, and opposite of mine. One reason I don't like this reading is because he notes, "The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe. In the middle Ages when men believed in a physical existence in Hell, the sight of fire must have meant something different from what it means today" (106). I get from this that what he is saying is somewhat hypocritical of what he notes later in the article. Berger later states that part of the image is lost by its replication, "Having seen this reproduction (Virgin of the Rocks), one can go to the National Gallery to look at the original and there discover what
the reproduction lacks" (116), the only thing the reproduction lacks is the price tag of the original. I disagree with this, if replication was not possible, people would not be able to view the piece of art and make their own conclusions of it.
The ways the image and texts are interpreted are based on interpreter's perception, belief, past history and interpretation of events. In John Berger's book, ‘Ways of Seeing,' the writer explores the way we view and interpret the art. The message provided by the writer relates to interpretation of the message. In the book (both in text and image) there is a message about the relationship of men and women and presence of their power and position. Berger starts his essay with: "It is seeing which establishes 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" (Berger, 7). In the very beginning of his essay, Berger implies to his readers that it is actually seeing which develops our thoughts and meanings. Using these thoughts and meanings, we interpret our surrounding with words. This very clearly underlines that we describe what we see and what we make of what we
see. John Berger's central insight - that "the way we see things is structured by what we know or what we believe" is an insight into how Berger views and acknowledges the fact that what we interpret an image, text or an event according to our knowledge and believe. Women constantly meet glances which act like mirrors reminding them of how they look or how they should look. Women dream of themselves being dreamt of. Chapter 2 and 3 of the book are devoted to the images women and how the presence of Man differs from the women. Important to note is for women her ultimate success is how she is viewed by the men. The success of the women in life is measured by "how she appears to others, and ultimately how she appears to men" (46). They seem to be the one making merry. In contrast women are looking eager to please the men and only seems to be confident in the presence of the men. She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to others, and ultimately how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life. They seem more confident; confident of themselves and their surroundings. The theme of power is not just restricted to the text but the images of the book also display this relationship of power. From the image, it seems their purpose is to please the men. " (46) This statement by the Berger is very clear indication of the underlying theme of power and its relevance in terms of presence of men and women. Is there a certain way in which we are to see art? Is the way we question art dependent on the way we see it? After the silence is broken the observer then becomes the critic and interprets the painting according to her. Is her interpretation right? Are there multiple ways to interpret a painting?