Ways of Seeing

What struck me the most about John Berger's "Ways of Seeing" was his focus on the spectator. He initially brings up the idea of the spectator in his discussion about women and the ways women are portrayed in art. When discussing women in general, Berger states, "Men survey women before treating them" (46). Berger goes on to discuss women in art, "It is true that sometimes a painting includes a male lover. But the woman's attention is very rarely directed towards him. Often she looks away from him or she looks out of the picture towards the one who considers himself her true lover - the spectator-owner" (56). These two statements indicate that Berger observes women as a "sight" that is there for him to see. However, he clarifies that when observing a painting, a man "can do no more: he is forced to recognize himself as the outsider he is" (58).

Though most topics in "Ways of Seeing" are related in one way or another, I think this topic relates especially well to Berger's analysis of "publicity" at the end of the book. While explaining publicity, Berger says, "publicity is never a celebration of a pleasure-in-itself. Publicity is always about the future buyer...Publicity is about social relations, not objects (132). This immediately reminded me of Berger's earlier statements about women: "If a woman makes a good joke this is an example of how she treats the joker in herself and accordingly of how she as a joker-woman would like to be treated by others. Only a man can make a good joke for its own sake" (47). Putting aside how offensive the latter statement is, both statements express the same general idea. Women and publicity are not art in their own right, they need a spectator to become something. Without a spectator, they cannot become anything.

I think this topic stood out to me because some of Berger's ideas are similar to what I tried to explain in my "what is art?" post. Art could be anything depending on the spectator. Though I do not agree with some of Berger's examples, I agree with his main principles. I enjoyed reading this analysis of art because Berger was able to express some of the ideas I had, but had trouble putting into words.