Berger’s first chapter in Way of Seeing includes various political, religious, and meta-physical themes that express the importance of an individual’s relationship with authentic imagery. The meta-physical aspect of Berger’s expression is how highly he regards an individual’s subjective experience with sight, “It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but words can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it” (Berger, 7). The political and religious factors Berger is alluding to have to do with the reproduction of authentic images. The reproduction of images takes the photo away from its original context, resurfacing in multiple different expressions (film, other forms of medias) which makes the original viewed in a different context to the viewer in sort of a cult fashion; which Berger believes is bogus.
Imagery as well as data-collection can really strengthen research from the individual’s perspective. The two proposals in my field of interest can correlate to Berger’s ideology about and individuals experience with imagery and seeing. My first proposal was to do with the ethical repercussions of current conscription methods used during modern warfare. In North America conscription is no longer a widely used practice; most war theorist would say this due to the fact that conscription not only undermines just war theories original objective “to protect a state’s citizens” but would also point back at the historical fact that conscripted soldiers tended to incredible ineffective. However, there still are countries in the world who use conscription, which results in that nations courts to be filled with legal actions buy those conscripted. I would use various methods of research to back up my arguments- which could include interviews with people who have previously dealt with conscription first hand; as well as data that observes how effective conscripted soldiers are towards the war practice. I could also use various images that show the destructive and terrible reality of war; as well as propaganda which has been reproduced (most famously the American slogan known as “I want you”).
My second proposal was to attempt to write and film a screenplay revolving around characters which you can not only hear the dialogue but also their inner thoughts throughout the film. Berger believes that certain experiences of sight can have different meanings not only to different people but throughout different times. There are various methods in film that capture hidden meanings beyond the eye of the viewer that can be captured by subtle details. Lighting on the film set can create different moods for the watcher; point of view experiences when the viewer can have an inside view from a character’s perspective. For further research on these filming tactics I could search for data corresponding to various writing and filming strategies used in modern and historical filmography. Compared to photography; filming brings more rapid content to the viewer and doesn’t allow the individual to explore the meaning in the same way that they may be able to with photographs. However, filming tactics such as camera angles, point of view experiences, and lighting have the ability to expose the viewer to hidden meanings.