John Berger's "Ways of Seeing"

There are many barriers to overcome when viewing a piece of art correctly. To understand a piece of art is to understand everything about it and the artist who created it. A person viewing art must look past monetary value, understand the artwork’s history, and read into the language and images the artwork is expressing. John Berger explains this greatly in his essay “Ways of Seeing.” Berger in his essay expresses his views on the way art is viewed in society. He expresses his views on the perception of images, and how easy it is to read a piece of art falsely. He brings up ideas like mystification, the affects of reproductions, and much more.
One of the many barriers to overcome is the perspective of the person doing the viewing of the image. Everyone has different views and different outlooks on life. Berger explains this in his essay by saying, “The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe” (Berger 106). This is true especially when t...