I find John Berger’s quote most interesting because it strikes me as that most representative of how I’ve come to think of photography in just these first couple weeks of class. Berger distinguishes photography as more than just a “mechanical record”; he talks about it as an art medium, relating it very effectively to painting. Photography, I’ve realized, like all mediums, is a means whereby the artist can depict their interpretation of the world around them. I also appreciate how he emphasizes the individual creativity that is involved in the creation of imagery that is art. No two people see alike and, as Berger points out, this is evident in photographic imagery just as it is in painting and other art forms.
Berger talks about photography as something different than how we may think about it everyday. I’m not sure I agree entirely with his immediate dismissal of it as a “mechanical record,” for in truth it can function as such, and often does. I think however that the distinction Berger makes between photography’s everyday uses and photography as an art form is a very important one that is often not recognized because of the ever-present role photography plays in the modern day.
John Berger is an English art critic, painter, novelist, and author. He was born in the mid-1920s.
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