Chapter 1 of Ways of Seeing by John Berger

(ways-of-seeing.com)

51 points | by rafael859 3 hours ago

6 comments

  • tclancy 56 minutes ago
    I found the youtube copy of the series to be great - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-4LwAuTw7k
    • eecc 53 minutes ago
      yep, and Sony Music Entertainment auto-ensured shareholder value was maximized
  • smokel 55 minutes ago
    Interestingly, this is not copyright infringement, or at least not for the text being reproduced here. The original book (1972) mentions "The text of this book is not copyright" [1]. The image reproductions could invite copyright trolls though, so be warned.

    [1] https://pengpedia.org/edition/ways-of-seeing-john-berger-471...

  • jemdiggity 26 minutes ago
    I found Berger's writing pretty hard to digest. But thanks for the inspiration — will try again.
    • yzydserd 5 minutes ago
      I came to Berger through Sontag’s On Photography. An easier companion.
  • trimethylpurine 37 minutes ago
    Berger had no credentials or education in anthropology or any science whatsoever but invented a whole movement that I think doesn't carry any scientific weight. His reputation is truly undeserved.

    I think the fact that his work has been largely adopted by media experts, and is taught as dogma in film/media studies course work at the college level should be a strong signal that our ideas as a society about sex and body image are severely distorted and deeply problematic. Not in light of his work but because of it.

  • pmoriarty 47 minutes ago
    > It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world

    Do blind people not have a place in the surrounding world?

    • yzydserd 7 minutes ago
      Berger’s way of ‘seeing’ is to situate yourself in the time and place, less ocular than you may assume. And then he wrote the touching Cataracts, about how he lost his vision and gained a new way to see. He regained his vision and soon died. Possibly this is why you’ve been downvoted.