Ways of Seeing (觀看的方式)  John Berger 1926-2017

Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak.
(觀看先於言語。孩童先會觀看和辨識,接著才會說話。)


Words 和 speak 皆由生理性感知所獲得其對象內容之訊息。John Berger 將「觀看」提升於另兩者之上,在於視覺性的感知最為直接的感染力,而停留於記憶的印象或引發的情緒也較為深刻。但觀看的方式取決於觀者身處的環境背景、信仰、先有的知識或偏見等,觀看的方式來自觀者的抉擇。

書的精闢見解:
● 圖像本身作視角上辯證
● 女性為對象之圖像呈現
● 資本主義與廣告性圖像

書中語錄:
▀ 攝影就是一種記憶。照片,與人的記憶,都同等依賴並對抗時間的流逝。
▀ 我們從不只注視於一件事物;我們總是注視於事物與我們之間的關聯。
▀ 男人注視女人,女人看自己被男人注視。
▀ 男人行動,女人表現。男人注視女人。女人看自己被男人注視。
▀ 廣告語言和油畫語言根本是一脈相承。
▀ 廣告的主要作用不是針對現實世界,而是瞄準白日夢。
▀ 廣告是資本主義文化的生命。


Ways of Seeing 亦是英國BBC介紹藝術史的電視教育影片之概念書
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
A BAFTA award-winning series with John Berger, which rapidly became regarded as one of the most influential art programmes ever made. With the invention of oil paint around 1400, painters were able to portray people and objects with an unprecedented degree of realism, and painting became the ideal way to celebrate private possessions. In this programme, John Berger questions the value we place on that tradition.
Ways of Seeing is a 1972 BBC four-part television series of 30-minute films created chiefly by writer John Berger and producer Michael Dibb. Berger's scripts were adapted into a book of the same name. The series and book criticize traditional Western cultural aesthetics by raising questions about hidden ideologies in visual images. The series is partially a response to Kenneth Clark's Civilisation series, which represents a more traditionalist view of the Western artistic and cultural canon.