About Looking

From the Inside Flap As a novelist, art critic, and cultural historian, John Berger is a writer of dazzling eloquence and arresting insight whose work amounts to a subtle, powerful critique of the canons of our civilization. In About Looking he explores our role as observers to reveal new layers of meaning in what we see. How do the animals we look at in zoos remind us of a relationship between man and beast all but lost in the twentieth century? What is it about looking at war photographs that doubles their already potent violence? How do the nudes of Rodin betray the threats to his authority and potency posed by clay and flesh? And how does solitude inform the art of Giacometti? In asking these and other questions, Berger quietly -- but fundamentally -- alters the vision of anyone who reads his work. As A Novelist, Art Critic, And Cultural Historian, John Berger Is A Writer Of Dazzling Eloquence And Arresting Insight Whose Work Amounts To A Subtle, Powerful Critique Of The Canons Of Our Civilization. In About Looking He Explores Our Role As Observers To Reveal New Layers Of Meaning In What We See. How Do The Animals We Look At In Zoos Remind Us Of A Relationship Between Man And Beast All But Lost In The Twentieth Century? What Is It About Looking At War Photographs That Doubles Their Already Potent Violence? How Do The Nudes Of Rodin Betray The Threats To His Authority And Potency Posed By Clay And Flesh? And How Does Solitude Inform The Art Of Giacometti? In Asking These And Other Questions, Berger Quietly -- But Fundamentally -- Alters The Vision Of Anyone Who Reads His Work. [pt.1] Why Look At Animals? -- [pt.2] Uses Of Photography: -- The Suit And The Photograph -- Photographs Of Agony -- Paul Strand -- Uses Of Photography -- [pt.3] Moments Lived: -- The Primitive And The Professional -- Millet And The Peasant -- Seker Ahmet And The Forest -- Lowry And The Industrial North -- Ralph Fasanella And The Experience Of The City -- La Tour And Humanism -- Francis Bacon And Walt Disney -- An Article Of Faith -- Between Two Colmars -- Courbet And The Jura -- Turner And The Barber's Shop -- Rouault And The Suburbs Of Paris -- Magritte And The Impossible -- Hals And Bankruptcy -- Giacometti -- Rodin And Sexual Domination -- Romaine Lorquet -- Field. John Berger. Originally Published: New York : Pantheon Books, 1980. This successor to John Berger's Ways of Seeing , written over the last ten years, searches for meaning within and beyond what is looked at. Why do zoos disappoint children? Why do we take snapshots of those we love? How do the media use photographs of agony? When an animal looks us in the eyes, what does that look mean? Berger describes how a sixteenth-century masterpiece he saw in the 1960s comes to look different to him a decade later. He discusses how a forest looks to a woodcutter; how fields look to a peasant; how the world looks to a nineteenth-century barber's son; how New York looked to immigrants; and how each of these perspectives was reflected in the struggles of a particular painter. Every painting he considers, whether by Millet, Courbet, Turner, Magritte, Fasanella, or Francis Bacon, is evidence of an experience which belongs as fully to life as to art. (back cover copy) As a novelist, art critic, and cultural historian, Booker Prize-winning author John Berger is a writer of dazzling eloquence and arresting insight whose work amounts to a subtle, powerful critique of the canons of our civilization. In About Looking he explores our role as observers to reveal new layers of meaning in what we see. How do the animals we look at in zoos remind us of a relationship between man and beast all but lost in the twentieth century? What is it about looking at war photographs that doubles their already potent violence? How do the nudes of Rodin betray the threats to his authority and potency posed by clay and flesh? And how does solitude inform the art of Giacometti? In asking these and other questions, Berger quietly -- but fundamentally -- alters the vision of anyone who reads his work. The 19th century, in western Europe and North America, saw the beginning of a process, today being completed by 20th century corporate capitalism, by which every tradition which has previously mediated between man and nature was broken.