Discussion #2

1.Berger by saying that process of seeing is not natural and it is shaped by habits and conventions, he means that human’s vision works instantly. First, the person receives the information through his vision, then he tries to explain it with words, influenced by his imagination, knowledge, and life experience. If there is a group of people looking at one painting, then, there will be a variety of “ways of seeing,” everyone will have his own visualization and description of that artwork. People can share with each other their experience of interpreting a panting. 

2.An image is someone’s way of seeing. The camera is a device which helps the photographer to record an image captured by his vision at that moment. Nowadays, we can see the copy of any famous painting on our screen devices. However, according to Berger, when a camera is photographing a painting, it destroys the painting uniqueness. Seeing an artwork in a museum is a unique experience, the viewer has the freedom to observe the details, to feel the painting’s aura, to reflect about what he sees. 

3.According to Berger, the reproductions of paintings becoming a “form of information”, means that copies can distort the original meaning of the painting and they can make arguments. Those copies can be wrongly used in political propaganda and commercials. However, reproductions of paintings, seen on tv, newspapers, and documentary videos can attract and teach people about art and how to look at, and where to improve the knowledge about art. 

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