In my paper I will be talking about episode #5 of ways of hearing, in which krukowski goes into detail about how it’s different to go out to a book store and buy books rather than just ordering them online, and also how big companies by the likes of Amazon, Facebook, Instagram etc, collect information about what you’re most likely to buy and/or be interested in and show them to you in the ways of short clips, mostly known as ads, creating this sort of forced exposure to what people see In a way of comforting them and not “surprising” them.
Author Archives: Andy rosario
The effects of technology
I remember when I was younger about the age of 10-13, I would of spend my days playing baseball, tags, hide and seek and so on, but that was partly because as a kid I grew up in the Dominican Republic where at the time, cell phones and TVs were not the main source of entertainment, instead it was going outside hanging out with your friends and playing sports and games all day long but as I moved to the U.S and grew older I started noticing that here In New York, it was different, there was barely any physical activities to do outside in most part due to the weather but just as much cell phones and TVs were the cause too, it is almost as if people rather text than meet up in person, watch a movie on Netflix and then text about it rather than going to the movies together. cell phones give us the advantage to connect to others who are far away, yet when we use them we are almost completely disconnected to what’s happening in front of our eyes, it’s almost like everyone it’s on their own private space, away from reality and caged inside an artificial connection to others through a phone.
9/11 image
In episode #1 Berger talks about how Western European art was used to manipulate the viewers’ perspective and a lot of times it was meant to incite different feelings and questions, much like Berger’s point the 911 image at first it incites a happy and calm feeling but as you look deep into it, you could see the world trade center falling apart and burning which incites sadness and anger, at the same time the viewer is left wondering how are these people so happy during this event and what is the true meaning behind this image.
The image that money creates
The depiction of wealth now days is in fact very similar to what berger says in episode #3 of ways of seeing, in the episode berger talks about how wealthy people used oil paintings to portray their wealth and the power that came with it, often to create an image of themselves to the public as a high class individual or individuals and sometimes even an entire family, just like nowadays wealth back in the oil painting Era is synonym of what and how much you can afford to buy, how many properties, jewelry and cars(horses and cows back then) you could own. Now days the same method is used but through pictures and social media as the image above shows Floyd Mayweather a famous boxer who is considered very wealthy and successful, as we can see in the picture Floyd is flashing some of his valued items like his jewelry and his money creating an image and/or feeling of wealth.
The oil painting of the lady laying on top of her jewelry could be very much compared to the picture of Floyd Mayweather as they are both intended to create some sort of feeling of wealth and power to the viewer.
Not just an object
In episode #2 of the series ways of seeing, John berger explains how western European nude art was viewed and perceived by the public, specially the male audience. Berger goes on to explain that being naked is to be yourself and to be nude is to be seeing by others and not perceived as one, rather to be nude sometimes it is to be objectified. Berger main point was to explain how nude art was made to principally suffice the desire of the male audience and how women were being objectified and how it defined the role of a women as if it was to mostl please the audience, the male audience.
Now days women suffer the same circumstances because many men look at women as an object to fulfill their desire, much more like an object and less like a human being with emotions, but as society progresses women start to be more and more independent and taking on roles who were predominantly and stereotypically are the roles a man is supposed take in society, such as entrepreneurs, construction work and even joining the police force. In today’s society even if there’s a long way to go, women are viewed more equally and while still being objectified at times, it is much more less worse than before.
The camera could benefit us but could also be used to manipulate us.
After the invention of the camera, images have become a source of information and also some kind of language that works by manipulating the context in which the images are shown. An example could be when we’re watching tv and in between commercial breaks the broadcaster often shows ads to either promote a product or service or to convey a message, while watching the news I often see ads about the newest Iphone, these ads consist of various images and videos of the new device showing and providing information meticulously picked by the company Apple to try and incite its viewers to buy the new device, while doing these ads Apple is trying to convince its public about the device’s advantages and improvements, only showing what’s beneficial for the company and therefore manipulating the way they show only what they want you to see about their new device . This type of publicity fits with the ideas that Berger describes in episode one(#1) of ways of seeing, because in the episode Berger claims that images are often shown by the provide in ways which he could manipulate what he wants people to see and could be used to create some sort of manipulative pattern that could be used to make the viewer believe or change their perspective on a certain topic.
