WAYSOFSEEING

By John Berger (1972)

Wheninlove,thesightofthebelovedhas acompletenesswhichnowords can

embraceormatch:acompletenesswhichonlytheactofmakinglovecantemporarily

accommodate.

Animageisasightwhichhasbeenrecreatedorreproduced.Itisanappearance,ora

setofappearances,whichhasbeendetachedformtheplaceandtimeinwhichitfirst

madeitsappearancesandpreservedforafewmomentsorafewcenturies.Every

imageembodiesawayofseeing.Evenaphotograph.Forphotographsarenot,asis

oftenassumed,amechanicalrecord.Everytimewelookataphotograph,weare

aware,howeverslightly,ofthephotographerselectingthatsightfromaninfinityof

other possible sights. This is true even in the most casual family snapshot. The

photographerswayofseeingisreflectedinhischoiceofsubject.Thepaintersway

ofseeingisreconstitutedbythemarkshemakesonthecanvasorpaper.

Yet, although every image embodies a way of seeing, our perception or

appreciationoftheimagedependsalsouponourownwayofseeing.

Imageswerefirstmadetoconjureuptheappearancesofsomethingthatwasabsent.

Graduallyitbecameevidentthatanimagecouldoutlastwhatitrepresented;itthen

showedhowsomethingorsomebodyhadoncelookedandthusbyimplicationhow

thesubjecthadbeenseenbyotherpeople.
 Nootherkindofrelicortextfromthepastcanoffersuchadirecttestimony

abouttheworldwhichsurroundedotherpeopleatothertimes.Inthisrespectimages

aremorepreciseandricherthanliterature.Tosaythisisnottodenytheexpressiveor

imaginative quality of art, treating it as a mere documentary evidence; the more

imaginativethework,themoreprofoundlyitallowsustosharetheartistsexperience

ofthevisible.

Yetwhenanimageispresentedasaworkofart,thewaypeoplelookatitisaffected

bythewholeseriesoflearntassumptionsaboutart.Assumptionsconcerning:Beauty,

Truth,Genius,Civilisation,Form,Status,Taste,etc.Manyoftheseassumptionsno

longeraccordwiththeworldasitis.Theseassumptionsmystifyratherthanclarify.

Thepastisneverthewaitingtobediscovered,toberecognisedforexactlywhatitis.

Historyalwaysconstitutestherelationbetweenapresentanditspast.

Whenweseeinalandscape,wesituateourselvesinit.Ifwesawtheartofthe

past,wewouldsituateourselvesinhistory.

Thecompositionalunityofapaintingcontributesfundamentallytothepowerofits

image.Itisreasonabletoconsiderapaintingscomposition.Butherethecomposition

iswrittenaboutasthoughitwereinitselftheemotionalchargeofapainting.Terms

like harmonious fusion, unforgettable contrast, reaching a peak of breadth and

strength transfer the emotion provoked by the image from the plane of lived

experience,tothatofdisinterestedartappreciation.Allconflictdisappears.Oneis
left with the unchanging human condition, and the painting considered as a

marvellouslymadeobject.

Mystificationhaslittletodowiththevocabularyused.Mystificationistheprocess

ofexplainingawaywhatmightotherwisebeevident.

Todayweseetheartofthepastasnobodysawitbefore.

The difference can be illustrated in terms of what was thought of as

perspective. The convention of perspective, which is unique to European art and

whichwasfirstestablishedintheearlyRenaissance,centreseverythingontheeyeof

thebeholder.Perspectivemakesthesingleeyethecentreofthevisibleworld.

Accordingtothevisionofperspectivethereisnovisualreciprocity.Thereis

noneedforGodtosituatehimselfinrelationtoothers:heishimselfthesituation.The

inherentcontradictioninperspectivewasthatitstructuredallimagesofrealityto

addressasinglespectatorwho,unlikeGod,couldonlybeinoneplaceatatime.

After the invention of the camera this contradiction gradually became

apparent.

Theinventionofthecamerachangedthewaymensaw.Thevisiblecametomean

somethingdifferenttothem.Thiswasimmediatelyreflectedinpainting.

FortheImpressioniststhevisiblenolongerpresenteditselftomaninorderto

be seen. On the contrary, the visible, in continual flux, became fugitive. For the

Cubiststhevisiblewasnolongerwhatconfrontedthesingleeye,butthetotalityof

possibleviewstakenfrompointsallroundtheobject(orperson)beingdepicted.
Theuniquenessofeverypaintingwasoncepartoftheuniquenessoftheplacewhere

itresided.Sometimesthepaintingwastransportable.Butitcouldneverbeseenintwo

places at the same time. When the camera reproduces a painting, it destroys the

uniqueness of its image. As a result its meaning changes. Or, more exactly, its

meaningmultipliesandfragmentsintomanymeanings.

Adultsandchildrensometimeshaveboardsintheirbedroomsorlivingroomson

which they pin pieces of paper: letters, snapshots, reproductions of paintings,

newspapercuttings,originaldrawings,postcards.Oneachboardalloftheseimages

belongtothesamelanguageandallaremoreorlessequalwithinit,becausethey

havebeenchoseninahighlypersonalwaytomatchandexpresstheexperienceofthe

roomsinhabitant.Logically,theseboardsshouldreplacemuseums.

Whentheartofthepastceasestobeviewednostalgically,theworkswillceasetobe

holyrelicsalthoughtheywillneverrebecomewhattheywerebeforetheageof

reproduction.Wearenotsayingoriginalworksofartarenowuseless.

The idea of innocence faces two ways. By refusing to enter a conspiracy, one

remainsinnocentofthatconspiracy.Buttoremaininnocentmayalsobetoremain

ignorant.Theissueisnotbetweeninnocenceandknowledge(orbetweenthenatural

andthecultural)butbetweenatotalapproachtoartwhichattemptstorelateitto

everyaspectofexperience.
The Work of Art in an Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Walter Benjamin (in

Illuminations,Cape,London,1970).

Accordingtotheusageanconventionswhichareatlastbeingquestionedbuthave

bynomeansbeenovercome,thesocialpresenceofawomenisdifferentinkindfrom

thatofaman.Amanspresenceisdependentuponthepromiseofpowerwhichhe

embodies.Ifthepromiseislargeandcrediblehispresenceisstriking.Ifitissmallor

incredible,heisfoundtohavelittlepresence.Thepromisedpowermaybemoral,

physical,temperamental,economic,social,sexualbutitsobjectisalwaysexteriorto

theman.Amanspresencesuggestswhatheiscapableofdoingforyouortoyou.

Hispresencemaybefabricated,inthesensethathepretendstobecapableofwhathe

isnot.Butthepretenceisalwaystowardsapowerwhichheexercisesonothers.

Onemightsimplifythisbysaying:menactandwomenappear.Menlookatwomen.

Womenwatchthemselvesbeinglookedat.Thisdeterminesnotonlymostrelations

betweenmenandwomenbutalsotherelationofwomentothemselves.Thesurveyor

ofwomeninherselfismale:thesurveyedfemale.Thussheturnsherselfintoan

objectandmostparticularlyanobjectofvision:asight.

InonecategoryofEuropeanoilpaintingwomenweretheprincipal,everrecurring

subject.Thatcategoryisthenude.InthenudesofEuropeanpaintingwecandiscover

someofthecriteriaandconventionsbywhichwomenhavebeenseenandjudgedas

sights.
 ThefirstnudesinthetraditiondepictedAdamandEve.Itisworthreferringto

thestoryastoldintheGenesis.Whatisstrikingaboutthisstory?Theybecameaware

ofbeingnakedbecause,asaresultofeatingtheapple,eachsawtheotherdifferently.

Nakednesswascreatedinthemindofthebeholder.Thesecondstrikingfactisthat

the woman is blamed and is punishedby being made subservient to the man. In

relationtothewoman,themanbecomestheagentofGod.

Inthemedievaltraditionthestorywasoftenillustrated,scenefollowingscene,

asinastripcartoon.

During the Renaissance the narrative sequence disappeared, and the single

momentdepictedbecamethemomentofshame.

Whatdotheseconventionsmean?Whatdoesanudesignify?Itisnotsufficientto

answerthesequestionsmerelyintermsoftheartform,foritisquiteclearthatthe

nudealsorelatestolivedsexuality.

Tobenakedistobeoneself.

Tobenudeistobeseennakedbyothersandyetnotrecognisedforoneself.A

nakedbodyhastobeseenasanobjectinordertobecomeanude.(Thesightofitas

anobjectstimulatestheuseofitasanobject.)Nakednessrevealsitself.Nudityis

placedondisplay.

Tobenakedistobewithoutdisguise.

Tobeondisplayistohavethesurfaceofonesownskin,thehairsofones

ownbody,turnedintoadisguisewhich,inthatsituation,canneverbediscarded.The

nudeiscondemnedtoneverbeingnaked.Nudityisaformofdress.
 Venus,CupidTimeandLovebyBRONZINO15031572.

In the European tradition generally, the convention of not painting the hair on a

womansbodyhelpstowardsthesameend.Hairisassociatedwithsexualpower,with

passion.Thewomanssexualpassionneedstobeminimisedsothatthespectatormay

feelthathehasthemonopolyofsuchpassion.)Womenaretheretofeedanappetite,

nottohaveanyoftheirown.

(Whatisthedifferencebetweenattitudeandvalue?)

Buttheessentialwayofseeingwomen,theessentialusetowhichtheirimagesare

put,hasnotchanged.Womenaredepictedinaquitedifferentwayfrommennot

because the feminine is different from the masculine but because the ideal

spectatorisalwaysassumedtobemaleandtheimageofthewomanisdesignedto

flatterhim.

Oilpaintingsoftendepictthings.Thingswhichinrealityarebuyable.Tohavea

thingpaintedandputonacanvasisnotunlikebuyingitandputtingitinyourhouse.

Ifyoubuyapaintingyoubuyalsothelookofthethingitrepresents.

Oilpainting(fortheperiodbetween1500and1900)didtoappearanceswhat

capital did for social relations. It reduced everything to the equality of objects.

Everythingbecameexchangeablebybecauseeverythingbecameacommodity.All

reality was mechanically measured by its materiality. The soul, thanks to the

Cartesiansystem,wassavedinacategoryapart.Apaintingcouldspeaktothesoul
by way of what it referred to, but never by the way it envisaged. Oil painting

conveyedavisionoftotalexteriority.

Hackworkisnottheresultofeitherclumsinessorprovinicialism;itistheresultof

themarketmakingmoreinsistentdemandsthantheart.Theperiodoftheoilpainting

corresponds with the rise of the open art market. And it is in this contradiction

betweenartandmarketthattheexplanationsmustbesoughtforwhatamountstothe

contrast,theantagonismexistingbetweentheexceptionalworkandtheaverage.