How To See The World

How To See The World – Chapter 1

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How to see yourself

This chapter tells us about the different changes that took place in art and how it has been used to depict our identities. It begins by explaining what a ‘selfie’ or a self-portrait is and how “Self-portraits were the preserve of a highly skilled few” but now anyone can give by it by using a smart phone.

By looking at different stages of art history, Mirzoeff seeks to explain the where our mindset of self-image comes from.

He references the paintings of Vigée-Lebrun and Courbet where the artists depict themselves as something or someone who they might not actually be. Like in Bayard’s photograph he looks as if he’s dead – to show that he preferred death over dishonor – and many viewers actually believed he was dead after this.

He then references works of a few more artists to show how these portraits had a much deeper underlying message rather than just being a photograph. Like Duchamp’s ‘Self portrait in a five way mirror’ shows us how he “did not see himself as one but many selves” and Sherman’s self portrait that uses not to depict herself but the victims and how cinema used women as objects to be played with.

Furthermore, Mirzoeff tells us how we often judge a person simply by looks.

He says, “If we decide a person’s gender by their hair, clothes and style, it is a visual analysis rather than a scientific deduction.” To prove his point further, he talks about Fosso’s ‘The chief’ where the artist uses self-imagery to project the ideas of how his body is Africanized and racialized by people.

In the final parts of the chapter, Mirzoeff talks about the relevance of selfies today. He says, “Each selfie is a performance of a person as they hope to be seen by others.” He talks about the two types of selfies – one for the “digital circle” and the other for personal conversations or a medium to convey messages with use of apps like snapchat. He also talks about how it could potentially affect our lives. “Our bodies are now in the network and in the bodies at the same time.” Overall, he explains very well the idea of evolved communication through self-portrait and the realties of self-imagery.

How To See The World – Introduction

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The introduction of this book is essentially divided into three parts. As we begin to read the main theme that we come across is how the world is changing and more so the pace at which it is changing and how “..the emerging global society is visual.” Mirzoeff talks about the ‘Blue Marble’ and how just one photograph had a social impact on people versus the selfie taken by Aki Hoshide where he says “There is, it seems, more to seeing that being in the place to be.” He also mentions the new version of the ‘Blue Marble’, which is not an original photograph but the result of a ‘tiled rendering’ and uses this as a metaphor to explain what the world is like right now.

As we progress, he tells us what visual culture is and how it plays a vital role in the world today but at the same time traces its roots to increase its understanding. Visual culture has become a global thing mostly due to the Internet. It’s almost as if we have two lives – one online and the other offline. He says, “Those screens appear to offer unlimited freedom but are carefully controlled and filtered views of the world.” If we share something online, it’s so that the audience can engage with it in some way. Mirzoeff mentions “there is a new ‘us’ on the internet”.

He also introduces us to the different topics that will be dealt with in the chapters to come.

Further, he talks about different periods where dramatic transformations took place in terms of the visual culture of the world. He does so by giving examples of different centuries and significant changes that took place. It’s almost as if the use of photographs – that can “change the world in seconds” – has “revealed the new human power to save specific instants of time.” Time plays a very important role and he tries to explain that in a few ways like by the example of ‘the clock’, the want for change in representation and even the global environment state.