John berger ways of seeing episode 1 summary

#John berger ways of seeing episode 1 summary series#

This market value depends on it being genuine.' (1) This shows that while the invention of the camera and the ability to copy anything took its toll on the value of a painting, something- money and market value of an original- somewhat replaced this.Р”Р„n example of a painting that the camera and the possibility of recreating and copying the image made very popular is Van Gogh's starry night. It's become mysterious again because of it's market value. Berger talks about the fact that in original paintings, this loss of worth is often replaced by market value for being an original paintings acquired a new kind of impressiveness, but not because of what it shows, not because of the meaning of its image. There is no longer the feeling of impressiveness because you know it's the only one of it's kind- yes, there is the original still which holds the value, but since most valued paintings have copies and remakes because of the camera, it loses some of it's sense of worth. Berger also touches on the fact that paintings can be easily manipulated- a few reasons why is that there is no unfolding of time in paintings, just the one frame a painting's interpretation can be changed if it is accompanied by music and rhythm and the meaning of an image can be changed depending on what you view after or beside it.Р”В«ecause of the camera and the fact that any original piece of work can be photographed, copied, and placed virtually anywhere in the world, paintings have lost something. This messes with the 'value' of the painting.

He also talks a lot about how most original paintings have been recreated, copied, and distributed across the globe. The invention of the camera changed perception of the world- it changed not only what we see but how we see it.

Berger touches on the idea that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this makes the eye the center of the visible world.

#John berger ways of seeing episode 1 summary series#

The videos 'question the assumptions usually made about the tradition of European paintings' (1) The first episode in the series draws on Walter Benjamin's The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, and the idea that the reproduction of art such as paintings separates the piece's modern context from the context of which the piece was created. Ways of Seeing is a four part BBC video series, created by John Berger and producer Mike Dibb in 1972.