Ways of Seeing is book written by John Berger and Mike Dibb. It explains and argues about the way we look at visual images and criticizes traditional Western cultural aesthetics by raising questions about our ways of seeing. It started as a BBC four-part television series of 30 minutes, and later converted into a book by John Berger.
The books consist of seven different essays, out of which four essays use words and images. Remaining three just use images to justify topics. Ways of Seeing has been used as a text for studies of visual culture and art history. This book was first published by Penguin Publication in 1972 in United Kingdom,which consisted of 166 pages. John Berger’s Ways of Seeing is an in-depth look on art, the way people perceives it and how the traditional paintings and the modern day publicity have interpreted new images of women and sexuality.
In the book, Berger compares and explains the different views of art from 15th century to modern day. According to writer, images are the most powerful means of instant communication that human have developed; since it’s really difficult to describe the essence of pictures in words, it mystifies viewers-sometimes it also creates an illusion to viewers.Nevertheless,it gives a certain realm for viewers to interpret the way they want to see the pictures. But again, people interpretation of arts differs from place to place, culture to culture and human to human, based on their vision, experiences and cultural backgrounds. In the book, writer argues that the invention of camera has changed traditional value of art forever. With the reproduction of photographs, arts have lost its aesthetic importance,since it is available for advertisements and merchandises, and can be manipulated to disseminate different ideas and messages
