BBC: Ways of Seeing, Episode One
John Berger
Ways of Seeing, Episode One
Read John Berger’s three essays; “Ways of Seeing", “On Rembrandt’s Woman in Bed” and “On Caravaggio’s The Calling of St. Matthew.” Then, watch the first episode of the television series Ways of Seeing, written by Berger and produced by Mike Dibb for the British Broadcasting Network in 1972. Berger later adapted the series into a book of the same name, from which the essay Ways of Seeing comes. Below, you’ll find some questions that invite you to work further with the video.
View transcript.
Credit: Ways of Seeing, Episode One. © 2014 BBC Worldwide. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00drsjf
QUESTIONS FOR A SECOND VIEWING
1.
Question 20.10
2.
Question 20.11
3.
Question 20.12
4.
Question 20.13
ASSIGNMENTS FOR WRITING
1. This video is essentially another version of a section of Berger’s essay, “Ways of Seeing.” He makes a number of claims in the video version that you can test by comparing your reading of the essay to your watching the video. One of those claims has to do with the ways in which your attention is directed by the camera, the video eye. Another claim of his is that your understanding of the paintings and their reproductions has to do with both the context in which you see them and what comes before and after their images.
Question 20.14
2. “Images may be like words,” Berger says, rather than holy relics. As words, they communicate meaning to us. For this assignment, examine Michelangelo da Caravaggio’s painting Supper at Emmaus. This is the painting that Berger shows to the children to spark their discussion. This assignment has several parts:
First, write a two to three paragraph explanation of what you think the painting is about.
Next, gather a small group of people to look at the painting and to talk about what it means to them. Ask them what the painting might be about, what they see, or what it means to them. Take notes on the conversation.