Reading notes
I've been reading John Berger's Ways of Seeing (1972). It's written in a deceptively simple style. I'm going through everything twice to make sure that I understand it. Here are my favourite quotes up to page 16, and some thoughts.
“The way we see things is affected by what we know or believe.”
Ways of Seeing is about visual art, but I think this quote applies to all areas of human seeing and understanding. We interpret things in the light of what we know and believe.
“We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves.”
Some things are so true that we take them for granted. I think this is one of them. Is it possible to separate anything we look at from ourselves? Can I look at the computer I'm typing on and see the computer in its purest "non-saesnes" essence? Or will this machine always pertain to me in some way in my mind?
“The past is never there waiting to be discovered, to be recognized for exactly what it is. History always constitutes the relation between a present and its past.”
I don't think we can ever fully separate ourselves from the past when we look at it. What we see will always be filtered through what we know now. In turn, our present lives will be retold by future historians in a way that says more about them than it does about us. (Or am I being too cynical?)
“Mystification is the process of explaining away what otherwise might be evident.”
I didn't immediately understand what Berger meant by "mystification." I believe it's a form of overcomplication.
Berger gives the example of an art historian writing about a 17th-century group portrait. The art historian presents the picture as a beautiful, harmonious composition that communicates a deeply mysterious message about universal humanity. Berger asks us to be less complicated. He encourages us to be people looking at a picture of people. We can trust our own seeing and not wait for an art historian to save us.
