Assignment 5

In chapter five, John Berger talks about individualized presence and distance.  The gaze of the ambassadors in his book is both aloof and wary.  They expect no reciprocity.  They wish the image of their presences to impress others with their vigilance and their distance.  The presence of kings and emperors had once impressed in a similar way, but their images had been comparatively impersonal.  What is new and disconcerting here is the individualized presence which needs to suggest distance.  Individualism finally posits equality.  Yet equality must be made inconceivable.  The conflict again emerges in the painting method.  The surface verisimilitude of oil painting tends to make the viewer assume that he is close to, within touching distance of, any object in the foreground of the picture.  If the object is a person such proximity implies a certain intimacy.  Yet the painted public portrait must insist upon a formal distance.  It is this, and not technical inability on the part of the painter, which makes the average portrait of the tradition appear stiff and rigid.  The artificiality is deep within its own terms of seeing, because the subject has to be seen simultaneously from close to and from afar.  The analogy is with specimens under a microscope.  This painting really jumped out at me.  The three men in the front are all identified as important men among their tribe.  The first one to my right looks like he is a chief, the headdress; bright colors and the feathers lead me to believe that he has the individualized presence of a chief.  He presents himself as strong, spiritual and wise.  The middle man has the individualized presence as a holy man.   He has crosses on his pants and his jacket.  The symbol in the middle of his shirt looks like a symbol of spiritualism.  He to, presents himself as a strong, spiritual and wise man.  The third man on my left has the individualized presence of a medicine man.  His colors are not as bright as the chiefs and even the holy man.  The cross around his neck reminds me of the Red Cross, and his headdress looks like it has flowers on it.  He presents himself as a strong, caring man.  I did notice that the medicine man is the only one that is not showing his feet, they are completely covered.  Is it possible that the medicine man cannot show his feet in a picture?  I wonder what that represents.  The chief is not looking forward; I’m not sure what that represents.  I notice distance in the fact that the man behind these three important men is wrapped in a colorless or drab color blanket.  He’s almost hidden, but you notice him there.  He almost seems cold and that maybe he has been rescued from something.  Maybe he has lost his whole family and he needs all of the wisdom of these three wise men.  The hands of these men really jump out at you also.  They are large, long and careworn.  They look strong and used a lot.  You can see the veins in them very distinctly.

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: The Penguin Group, 1977.