John Berger talks about the creation of Cameras and how they have impacted life with a focus on Classical Art. Although, I don't much about Classical Art, I did find many topics he discussed very interesting, starting with the invention of the Camera.
Cameras let us see objects and people that are not in front of us. Before a camera was invented, we were unable to see anything that was not right in front of us. This is crazy to think about especially when we are in a Zoom class right now. However now that we have been in quaratine for so many months and have been using cameras for everything, I think we can see how seeing things with our own eyes is much more precious now.
John Berger also discusses Nude paintings of women. He brings up the idea of how these paintings are completely made for men's pleasure. Many paintings showed Cupid and Venus. However, Cupid was always shown as a young boy. He was no competition for the male viewer. The female's body was always foward-facing for the viewer. These female nude paintings were popular in comparison to male nude paintings. On top of that, the woman was lusted for her, but she did not show any desire. I think it is interesting that not only did John Berger use this in his documentary, but he also talked to a group of women about this. As a woman, myself I think he is right that woman are always judged. I think we are making a movement to stop judging one another and for there to be more equality between men and women and honestly, I am happy that it isn't a common thing to have a nude painting in one's home.
John Berger also discussed marketing tactics that were used at the time. In the world we live in today, we are able to see images of other ways of lives. He speaks about how oil paintings and commercial photos are similar with the ideas of grace and glamour. For example, sometimes these photos copy a concept from the old oil paintings. This can also been seen in gestures that were copied. I think this concept can be seen in many different things aside from photography. For example, we are in the middle of a pandemic and apparently history says that a pandemic breaks out every 100 years around this time in the current century. Aside from that though, I think it is extremely interesting to see how things denoting wealth has changed. Before people had all those exotic things but now you can rent high end bags for pictures. I wonder how people show that their wealth is real.
