Ways of Seeing: Based on the BBC Television Series (Penguin Books for Art) Paperback – December 1, 1990

I had been on the lookout for a good book on visual culture, and after a long search , I decided to buy this one, as it is a classic. A classic in the non-fiction genre means that latest books on the subject have stolen the main themes from the classic text-which may be very short-and then added verbosity and lots of pictures to make thick and expensive books.This book may seem like a small book full of pictures, but it propounds big ideas. For me it was a quick read, I finished it in a few hours, possibly more so due to the fact that the main ideas were thoughts already scattered in my head; Berger compiled them, stated them way more eloquently, and then some.As is often the case, this book took me back to Qur'anic verses, as it seemed to be tied to the main themes of the Islamic scripture. The section on the female nude, could very well have been a summary of a dissertation on the veil in Islam. A detailed discussion is beyond the scope of this review.Having just read Chomsky's "How the world works," it was quite intriguing to read Berger making the same connections of capitalism with envy, covetousness and social apathy. Just like Chomsky, his identification of capitalism as a roadblock to democracy was also equally intriguing. It was almost the same points being stated, except that this time the thesis was based on marketing and the visual arts. (less)

I was recommended this book by my thesis supervisor. I came into it thinking it was going to be insightful and interesting. What I encountered was a profound exploration of the time we live in, not always accurate, but deeply truthful. Over fifty years after its publication, this book remains supremely relevant, every page feels necessary. I have been talking about this book ever since I picked it up will not shut up about it for the foreseeable future. Highly recommend

This book in Essay One stumbles to get off the ground at first - but as you go through each of the essay's things start to make sense. There is a method to the author's madness. Berger forces you to question how you have viewed early oil paintings traditionally. He forces you to understand and try to accept just because it is an old painting doesn't mean it is great. Also, he deepens the argument that art has always been for the elite - the wealthy to show off their wealth. He brings out many parallels to how we view photography today and the relationships of the artist/viewer to the subject. I learned more than I expected. As an artist this reading challenges me to not prostitute my art, but to be sincere.

The book is incredible, hence my five star rating. I’d like to warn you that this print of the book however, is terrible. Lets start with this lazy cover, which is literally just the first page printed on front, text and all. I know that’s a superficial complaint but to me these things matter. The more important issue is the spine of the book. The pages start ripping out when you hold it open and after staying in my car for a couple of hours, the glue started to loosen and the pages fell out! I’ve never had this issue with another book. Another bad note is that it’s in black and white, making it difficult to see the art that it uses as examples in this book.Overall i highly highly reccomend this book but please buy another print.

You'll never be the same, and also you'll never get your book back, they'll keep it, or loan it to someone else, and that's fine actually.

This was the first reading I was assigned as a freshman art student at UCSD in 1982. I have since lost my original copy and bought this one as a replacement. A refresher to remind me in a world defined by automation, conformity and narrow mindedness that we are, as humans, capable of seeing and doing so much more, still.This should be required reading for all high school students along with The Prophet and Plato's Republic.Thanks Amazon for getting into my hands quickly.

I found the book dense. I found the original episodes from the BBC and I watched them on YouTube. I found them very interesting. Basically my stars are not based on anything but I wanted to thing to be neutral.

Makes you think about art differently for sure. The tv series is very interesting as well. I was lamenting about the weird printing of the book and a friend of mine suggested that perhaps the printing was intentional to drive home the concept of different “ways of seeing”. Something to consider.