He explains that because now we can view art outside of it’s intended environment, as part of a building or church, or museum, we do not get its original purpose because we are conditioned to see things in terms of modern perspective. He claims that before the invention of cameras, people could only perceive what was in front of them and their personal experience. Because now our eyes can see things that are miles away with the use of cameras, our entire perspective of the world has changed as human beings. Our habits and conventions, according to John, go beyond just what the eye sees at the moment.

He makes this argument by explaining we are conditioned to see the world in a different perspective than people over one hundred years ago because of photography and technology. John Berger states that the act of seeing is not as objective as we think. What does Berger mean when he says that the process of seeing is not “natural,” that it is shaped by habits and conventions? What kinds of habits and conventions shape the ways we see and how do they do this?

Instead, he argues that what we see is conditioned by habits and conventions. One of the first points John Berger makes is that the act of seeing something is not as objective as we might at first think.

Quotes from john berger ways of seeing