Reading and Understanding a text

Tone of voice 

John Berger writes in a systematic and ordered fashion, building his argument carefully and slowly into a coherent conclusion. As his argument is constructed you begin to gain a sense of his disillusionment and distaste concerning the changing way in which we view art in modern society. I feel that his writing acts not as an opinion but a statement, which he well backs up with a wealth of knowledge and understanding of his subject. 

5 key points

• All images are a reproduction of sight, and what we see is shaped by what we know and what we choose to look at. An image is therefore a documentation of how one person saw something at particular point in time. 
• The appreciation of art is now determined on the basis of a series of "learnt assumptions". These expectations placed upon art 'mystify' the past and limit the discussion to a privileged minority. Art should be experienced through its personal relevance to the viewer and society. 
• The invention of the camera changed our view of perception from being centered on  the 'eye of the beholder' to a realisation that images are momentary, determined by your position in time and space. 
• The reproduction of images has changed the way in which we appreciate art. In their rarity originals have taken on a 'bogus religiosity'. The meaning of images can now be shaped by being placed within different contexts and purposes. The art of the past has lost its authority and with this we have created a new 'language of images'. 
• The art of the past has become a 'political issue' as the majority has become disconnected from their own history. It is important that we use this new 'language of images' to see our relation to the past and therefore give meaning to the present. 

5 key quotes

• "An image became a record of how X had seen Y"
• "Mystification is the process of explaining away what might otherwise be evident"
• "If the image is no longer unique and exclusive, the art object, the things, must be made mysteriously so"
• "The issue is not between innocence and knowledge (or between the natural and the cultural) but between a total approach to art which attempts to relate it to every aspect of experience and the esoteric approach of a few specialised experts who are the clerks of nostalgia of a ruling class in decline"
• "For the first time ever images of art have become ephemeral, ubiquitous, insubstantial, available, valueless, free...They have entered the mainstream of life over which they no longer, in themselves have power"

Summary

The first chapter of John Berger's book, 'The Ways of Seeing', evaluates how the mass production of images has changed the way value and appreciate art. The authority of an image has been removed through the process of its reproduction. As images are reproduced they take on new meaning and purpose, through being viewed within new contexts and presented with relevance to other information. The experience of viewing art is no longer a 'ritual' or culturally limited to a higher social class but a part of 'mainstream culture'. With this, the original 'art object' has also taken on a new significance, as in its rarity it is associated with a 'bogus religiosity' and treated as almost 'holy relics'. This has fed into the evaluation of artwork on the basis of 'learnt assumptions' used by an educated minority, which only acts to 'mystify' the past and disillusion the masses. In the age of mass production we have created a new 'language of images'. Images are readily available for all to see; however what we know about art has been warped both through the process of reproduction and the expectations we place upon art work.