Ways of Seeing

... Show More
John Berger’s Classic Text on Art

Ways of Seeing is one of the most stimulating and the most influential books on art in any language. First published in 1972, it was based on the BBC television series about which the (London) Sunday Times a critic commented: "This is an eye-opener in more ways than one: by concentrating on how we look at paintings . . . he will almost certainly change the way you look at pictures." By now he has.

"Berger has the ability to cut right through the mystification of the professional art critics . . . He is a liberator of images: and once we have allowed the paintings to work on us directly, we are in a much better position to make a meaningful evaluation" —Peter Fuller, Arts Review

"The influence of the series and the book . . . was enormous . . . It opened up for general attention to areas of cultural study that are now commonplace" —Geoff Dyer in Ways of Telling.

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1972

About the author

... Show More
John Peter Berger was an English art critic, novelist, painter and author. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism Ways of Seeing, written as an accompaniment to a BBC series, is often used as a college text.

Later he was self exiled to continental Europe, living between the french Alps in summer and the suburbs of Paris in winter. Since then, his production has increased considerably, including a variety of genres, from novel to social essay, or poetry. One of the most common themes that appears on his books is the dialectics established between modernity and memory and loss,

Another of his most remarkable works has been the trilogy titled Into Their Labours, that includes the books Pig Earth (1979), Once In Europa (1983) Lilac And Flag (1990). With those books, Berger makes a meditation about the way of the peasant, that changes one poverty for another in the city. This theme is also observed in his novel King, but there his focus is more in the rural diaspora and the bitter side of the urban way of life.

Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 99 votes)
5 stars
30(30%)
4 stars
35(35%)
3 stars
34(34%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
99 reviews All reviews
April 17,2025
... Show More
Way of Seeing, John Berger

Ways of Seeing is a 1972 television series of 30-minute films created chiefly by writer John Berger and producer Mike Dibb. It was broadcast on BBC Two in January 1972 and adapted into a book of the same name.

The book Ways of Seeing was written by Berger and Dibb, along with Sven Blomberg, Chris Fox, and Richard Hollis.

The book consists of seven numbered essays: four using words and images; and three essays using only images.

عنوانها: «شیوه های نگریستن»؛ «شیوه های دیدن»؛ «شیوه های نگاه»؛ نویسنده: جان برگر (جان برجر)؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: از روز ششم ماه فوریه تا روز دوم ماه مارس سال2013میلادی

عنوان: شیوه های نگریستن؛ نویسنده: جان برگر (جان برجر)؛ مترجم: غلامحسین فتح الله نوری؛ تهران، ویژه نگار، سال1388؛ در77ص، مصور، شابک9789649461748؛ موضوع: ادراک بصری، فن، هنر، از نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 20م

عنوان: شیوه های نگاه؛ نویسنده: جان برگر (جان برجر)؛ مترجم: محمد هوشمند ویژه؛ تهران، بهجت، سال1390؛ در160ص، مصور، رنگی؛ شابک 9789642763528؛

عنوان: شیوه های دیدن؛ نویسنده: جان برگر (جان برجر)؛ مترجم: زیبا مغربی؛ تهران، شورآفرین، سال1393؛ در122ص، مصور، رنگی؛ شابک9786006955278؛

جان برگر در کتاب «راه‌های دیدن» می‌گویند: (مردان به زنان می‌نگرند و زنان به خود نگاه می‌کنند، که مورد تماشا قرار گرفته‌ اند؛ این روزها، دیگر برای دوربین‌ها آسان نیست، که زنان را تنها به صورت ابزاری جنسی به نمایش بگذارند، زیرا زنان کارگردان و بازیگر، از نقش‌های خود برای عرضه‌ ی هوش و قدرت آرمانی‌شان بهره می‌گیرند؛ زنان آمریکایی تلاش فراوانی کرده‌ اند، تا دنیایی از آن خود بسازند، دنیایی که در آن اصل نگاه مردانه، نمی‌تواند از وجود آنها، هویت جنسی‌شان را به نمایش بگذارد، بلکه مجبور خواهد بود آنها را زنانی با استعداد و باهوش به تصویر بکش)»؛ پایان

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 26/10/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 28/07/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
April 17,2025
... Show More
Жила-була і переклала (для IST Publishing).
Про місце Берджера в наших серцях уже розповідала тут.


«Побачивши» пейзаж, ми шукаємо собі місце в ньому. «Побачивши» мист��цтво минулого, ми знайшли б собі місце в історії. Коли нам не дають його побачити, то позбавляють історії, що нам належить. Кому ця втрата вигідна? Мистецтво минулого містифікують, бо привілейована меншина намагається винайти таку версію історії, що ретроспективно виправдає роль панівних класів, хоча в сучасному світі таке виправдання вже не має сенсу. От і доводиться вдаватися до містифікацій.

Полемічний, азартний і злий текст, віховий для свого часу й читаний донині, що величезна рідкість для полемічних текстів - про те, як ми бачимо і чому; як ми взаємодіємо з мистецтвом і чому; про те, як і чому традиція олійного живопису вироджується в рекламу; про різницю між голим тілом і оголеною натурою; про роль різних жанрів олійного живопису в закріпленні різних владних ієрархій; про зображення жінок у мистецтві; і багато про що інше. Чудове.
April 17,2025
... Show More
if you like this review, i now have website: www.michaelkamakana.com

281219: exactly the text i wish i had read as a young artist... also clarifies some reasons i do not like, for example much oil painting, not the ‘realist’, ‘representational’, that precedes 1900 and invention of cameras. the depiction of object, material, subject etc. is to me false, illusion, without presence, when it is what the painting is ‘of’ rather than what the painting ‘is’... i prefer abstraction, line, watercolors, graphics...
April 17,2025
... Show More
I finally pulled this "oldie but goodie" off my shelf and read it. I wish I had years ago.

Although the examples from its 1970s origin are dated, its thesis is perhaps even more valid today than then: Oil painting emerged just as the Western world entered the era of capitalism and imperialism. The technique of perspective makes the viewer the center of all he (yes, Virginia, "he") sees, just as "Western man" viewed the resources of the world. Oil paintings, therefore, became a vehicle by which Western man could enjoy, in rich realistic detail, what he owned. Since the beginning of the 20th century, art has lost this patron-satisfying confidence, but its bastard child, advertising, has perverted the view even more by presenting, not what is already owned, but what we should desire to own, thus serving the needs of capitalism even further.

Yes, a few cobwebs of Marxism hang about the theory, but it provides a thought-provoking analysis of the convergence of artistic technique and social context.
April 17,2025
... Show More
Sự thực là, khi chúng ta nghe nhạc thính phòng, xem phim nghệ thuật, xem tranh trừu tượng... mà không hiểu thì không có nghĩa là chúng ta dốt, mà là bởi chúng ta chưa được dạy để cảm thụ nó. Ai cũng cần phải học thì mới biết và cuốn sách dày đặc các ý niệm thú vị này sẽ giúp ta nhìn-cảm nhận về nghệ thuật một cách rõ ràng hơn. Đọc tới đâu, mình cảm thấy vỡ ra tới đấy, cảm giác thật hưng phấn, cho dù nặng tính cá nhân và hơi khác lạ so với thời điểm hiện tại này.

Dù ngắn nhưng nói được quá nhiều thứ, nên đây là một cuốn sách hay để nghiền ngẫm dài dài chứ không đọc một lần cho xong.
April 17,2025
... Show More
Interesting little book. The author’s matter-of-factness annoyed me at times and I had the sense that he kept looking for the worst in the human nature of artists, art owners and consumers alike. If nothing else, he gives us food for thought.
I enjoyed the essay on publicity images the most. For what it’s worth, I couldn’t help comparing Berger’s view that “Publicity is about social relations, not objects. Its promise is not of pleasure, but of happiness: happiness as judged from the outside by others. The happiness of being envied...” to that of Don Draper’s, leading character and quintessential ad-man of Madmen, as is expressed on the Netflix trailer: “Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. And do you know what happiness is? It’s a billboard on the side of the road that screams with reassurance that whatever you are doing is OK. YOU are OK”.
I agree with both but the latter is kinder.
April 17,2025
... Show More
This book was pretty interesting. It offers a multi-pronged approach towards understanding how images and meaning are conjoined and how our historic development from art as a religious utility to art as advertisement/propaganda has only served to confuse us further. In some sense, we are inundated with images but we are not literate of their effect on us. This book seeks to compel us to not confuse the pleasures of seeing with their sly deceptions.

While much of the past art (images) has been examined and studied our current relationship with art, with images, has not been. Instead, we are made to believe what is shown to us, as the narrow definitions of success and motive are foised to our awareness without much critical awareness as to how else to understand what is being proposed. Instead, we are made to focus attention on very narrow parameters often to the detriment of our extended possibilities. We do not realize what we are doing, we are made to realize what we should do; instead of why. Our interests are made in alignment with the interests of those producing the images.

In some sense this is an incomplete book. It's a brave stab at what is going on, but it begs another, fuller look as to the relationship behind images, in part, because there is no critical framework. Choosing the right framework would further us greatly but as there is relatively no framework for assessing the multivalence of images, this book does not need one to do what it is doing.
Leave a Review
You must be logged in to rate and post a review. Register an account to get started.