Ways Of Seeing

Choose a photographic work of art from a time period other than our own. Use Berger’s principles and methodology to elucidate the ways of seeing that the advertisement both utilizes and creates. Tie these ways of seeing to the political, economic, cultural, and social elements that formed the contexts for the work of art’s creation.

Select a contemporary depiction of a woman that conforms to the conventions of the nude. The image can be from any number of visual contexts—advertising, memes, fine art, political photography, etc. Use Chapter Three as a starting point for your visual investigation of your chosen image. In what specific ways does it conform to the principles of the nude? Why do you think it was designed to conform to those principles? (Take its context and purpose into account.)

Select a contemporary depiction of a woman that does not conform to the conventions of the nude. The image can be from any number of visual contexts—advertising, memes, fine art, political photography, etc. Use Chapter Three as a starting point for your visual investigation of your chosen image. In what ways does the image refuse conformity to the conventions of the nude? Why does it refuse conformity, and what is its alternative message? What propositions could this refusal be forwarding? Does it, instead, display fidelity to other visual codes? If so, name and elucidate those visual codes. What are the image’s subversive elements? What particular message or provocation does its visual formulation articulate?

Compare and contrast the three major “ways of seeing” that John Berger analyzes: that of the nude, that of the oil painting, and that of the publicity image. In Berger’s perspective, what do each of these ways of seeing have in common? How are they different from one another?

Use Berger’s methodology to forward your own theory about the visual language of race in Western society. Use at least 3 images–one of which must be historical, and another of which must be contemporary—to exemplify and ground your theoretical analysis.

Explain the structure of Ways of Seeing. Carefully analyze each chapter, and track the development of Berger’s central theoretical claims. What specific rhetorical strategies does he use in order to build his argument? Why is the book sequenced the way it is?

Summarize Berger’s critique of capitalism. Use varied passages from different parts of the book to clearly re-state the central arguments that help him to mount an indictment of capitalism. Be sure to touch on both the material and cultural elements of his argument.

Compare and contrast Berger’s arguments in Chapter Three against the work of a feminist scholar. You may choose a feminist scholar working in the field of aesthetics, but you may also choose a feminist scholar working in a different discipline. Please limit your historical scope from 1960 to the present day. How are Berger’s arguments similar to those of your chosen scholar? How are they different? Cite Berger and your chosen scholar at length, in order to draw out their similarities and differences.