Image before the word - John Berger’s Way of Seeing

Since its first edition in 1972, John Berger’s Ways of Seeing has established itself as one of the most influential books in art criticism and art history. Based on the BBC programme with the same name, the book expanded the ideas explored in the programme and guides us through seven essays, three of them consisting only of images.

I have only recently become aware of Berger’s work and read his book, but some of the ideas in it were already familiar. From other books, from school, from general knowledge. That just shows how remarkably influential his views are in 20th and 21st century art study. 

The opening essays sets the theme and acts as an introduction to Berger’s ideas. IT establishes the relationship between language and seeing, between the way we see things and what we know. Context may create meaning, and a person’s informed experiences, the “relation between things and ourselves” (Berger, 1972/2023:9) define how one perceives an image. This perception, however, has changed with time and the introduction of a mechanised reproduction of an image has altered its meaning and the way we see it. This idea comes from Walter Benjamin, who introduced it in his essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, which presents the thesis that, with the ability of production of mechanical copies of a work of art, its values shifts from what it represents to what it is - an object d’art. Or, as Berger puts it, its market value becomes the replacement for its uniqueness and exclusivity.

By separating meaning and value, meaning expands and becomes transmittable, changeable to whatever surrounds it - allowing for other types of understanding and other types of public. Thus, “what the modern means of reproduction have done its to destroy the authority of art and to remove it [...] from any preserve” (Berger, 1972/2023:32). However, these images are still used to preserve the idea of exclusivity, alienating the masses who remain sceptical of art, the old elite clinging on to the status quo. The fight now is to, without destroying meaning or context, make art shed the last of its esoteric rituals. To bring art to the people is to give them the ability to express themselves, to express and understand their past, and thus, themselves. Art is political in the sense that it empowers people.

Berger goes on to talk about other class, possession and gender - as a feminist, I was particularly drawn to his essay about the notion of “male gaze” within painting, introduced by Berger following Laura Mulvey’s cinematic theory: “Women are depicted in a quite different way from men - not because the feminine is different from the masculine - but because the ‘ideal’ spectator is always assumed to be male and the image of the woman is designed to flatter him.” (Berger, 1972/2023:64).- , challenging perceptions about who art is for, how it served the purpose of maintaining the status quo and a ruling class of white, male, wealthy patrons in charge. By calling our attention to this imbalance, Berger makes us understand the driving forces behind centuries of art history and, most importantly, how we can dismantle them and from these pieces start anew. 

For me, this illustrates one of my core beliefs: anyone can benefit from art. In essence, art acts as a bridge for people to find each other and themselves, to connect with our history and with our humanity. That connection can happen from shared experiences, knowledge or emotions, a sense of empathy that I feel sometimes is missing from the academic world. 

Perhaps that is also why Ways of Seeing remains such an influential book to this day. It teaches us to see, to read the image and find the driving forces of class, consumption and gender that build them in a straightforward, accessible way. It finds a way to relate them to our knowledge and life, whether we are looking at oil portraits from long ago merchants, a luxurious still life or an ad in a magazine. Ultimately, it shows us that the artworld exists and if moulded within the real world, and one cannot exist without the other - they are not universes apart and as such, they can be understood, learnt and have an impact on our way of thinking and seeing the history of humanity.