Learn to See New Things
“Botticelli’s Venus and Mars used to be a unique image which it was only possible to see in the room where it was actually hanging. Now, it’s image or detail of it, can be seen in a million different places at the same time. As you look at it now on your screen, your wallpaper is round it. Your window is opposite it. Your carpet is below it. At the same moment, it is on many other screens, surrounded by different objects, different colors, different sounds. You are seeing it in the context of your own life. It is surrounded not by gilt frames, but by the familiarity of the room you are in, and the people around you.”
That’s what John Berger said in the BBC series ‘Ways of Seeing’ from 1972. And even now, 50 years later, it is still an interesting show to watch. It teaches you a new way of looking which you won’t soon forget :)
(But be sceptical of it. ;-))
And if you enjoyed reading this, I think you might like these things as well:
Practice Resurrection – My Favorite Poem by Wendell Berry
Expect the end of the world. Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful though you have...
What If Life Was Meant to Be Seen?
What if Life was meant to be seen? Our only job To notice the bird...
Learn to See New Things
even now, 50 years later, it is still an interesting show to watch. It teaches...
Oh, I Smell Spring!
“It was a bland day in early April and spring was looking at you round...
A Good Home
“A good home. What is it? Food and shelter? Yes. But it is something more....
How to Alter the Past
This letter is one of the most interesting and thought-provoking things I’ve read so far....
Lovely Song About The Joy of Beauty in Spring and Summer
I hope you enjoy this lovely song by Karen Peris, it reminds me of those...
One Thing You Can Do That Changes Everything
ow strange is it that Jesus calls himself a door? By walking through Him you...
How to Always Look Lovely According to Roald Dahl
if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and...
Practical Remedies Against Melancholy – By Sydney Smith
Sydney Smith was born in the 18th century and writes about his solutions to melancholy...
You Are Alive
“And what is it like: to be alive in this maybe one place of all...
The Snail on The Garden-Path
Dorothy L. Sayers writes in The Mind of The Maker this beautiful sentence: “God is...
What it Means to Be Yourself – Inspired by Virginia Woolf
To be yourself is not as straightforward as it sounds. In fact, yourself has everything...
Thoughts on Hope at the Post Office – By John Berger
“The post office at Auxonne is small and the postmistress has blue eyes. I have...
What I Learned From My 90-year-old Friend
When we got to know each other we were surprised at how similar we were,...
Don’t Turn Down This Invitation!
"There is only one invitation it would kill me to refuse, yet I’m tempted to...
You Are Not Who You Were Last November
“The human body essentially recreates itself every six months. Nearly every cell of hair and...
Finding Beauty in Grieving
Grieving over someone who died is painful. But in this experience there are also places...
I Wish I Was Fearless
This is a little poem on being fearless that I wrote to accompany this painting....
Turning Sadness into Joy – Vincent van Gogh’s Life
He was very poor, got heartbroken several times, got betrayed by friends, had a complicated...
What We Lost With the Invention of the Photograph
I do think we lost something profound with the invention of the photograph: The trust...
Walking on the Edge of the Abyss
but I don’t feel scared, really. Rather amazed, every day, that I am still standing...
The Second Coming of the Trees – A Poem by Wendell Berry
The country where he lives is haunted by a ghost of an old forest. In...
The Man Who Turned Pain into Ecstatic Beauty
Dr. Who is a time traveler and in this episode he takes the painter Vincent...
I Am Not Who I Am (Rembrandt And I)
God says “I am who I am.” But with human beings it should be: “We...
Little Home Joys
At times I like to walk through the house with my camera in hand and...
