Sul guardare

XXVII-V-MMXXIV

Light is not the opposite of darkness, and for John Berger, this is a fact, not just a metaphor. Light is not uniform and constant, or at least it can only be so in rare circumstances, by the sea or in the mountains. Light calls to the eye, and wherever it is, our gaze seeks it out. This is a good starting point for reflecting on how we look at things, and in John Berger’s collection of critical essays, each encounter with works of art becomes a real experience.

We are interested in this because Berger reveals how seeing comes before words and how looking is the beginning of every personal narrative.

John Berger, “Sul guardare” Il Saggiatore, translated by Maria Nadotti, Milan 2017.