“The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe.” (Berger, Ways of Seeing. Pg8)
John Berger’s Ways of Seeing inspired me to think about why we think and act the way we do, how important the influence of those we trust is, and the impact of images on how we situate ourselves in society.
The evolution of science as a means to explain human existence and mass globalisation has proved that religion is a cultural phenomenon passed down to us over generations in an attempt to justify our existence. This is not to undermine spirituality, but to suggest that a believe system can no longer be inferior to another.
Religion has been used by governments to manifest fear in its people and create divides within society that justify their right to power. This creates an ‘us’ vs ‘them’ paradox that has formed every world war and justified every colonisation. The belief that other people are ‘bad’ or ‘dangerous’ was created out of fear of the unknown. If we understand the significance of communication in the way we interpret other cultures, we can clearly see where injustices still lie in society.
My project aimed to explore masculinity through photography, how has it been represented throughout history and how activists are trying to combat these stereotypes; my research has taken me through the history of men in art, literature and politics, and has resulted in my perspective on patriarchy changing forever.
Through talking to the men I photographed during this project, reading on both the feminist and the men’s rights movement and coming to my own conclusions about masculinity, I have understood the importance of representation and knowing where we come from in giving our lives purpose.
“A people or class which is cut off from its own past is far less free to choose and to act as a people or class than one that has been able to situate itself in history. This is why – and this is the only reason why – the entire art of the past has now become a political issue.” (Berger, Ways of Seeing. Pg33)
In the same way we need to provide greater representation of women and ethnic minority backgrounds, we need to do the same for men. If society is ever to reach equality, we need to except that there are injustices in both sexes and work together to build a society that accommodates for all.
In reflection of this project, and on the current state of global politics, the realisations I have had over this project have helped me to understand the injustices in our systems and how the personal responsibility of individuals to create work that is beneficial for the future. Something I regret during this project was not using enough representations of men from different backgrounds in my publication. In my shoots on Religious places of worship, I was planning on visiting a number of religious establishments to discuss masculinity and photograph cultures from all over the world that now call the UK home; this being said, I was only able to photograph what was directly around me due to Covid19 and was therefor unable to complete my documentary style photography project.
My FMP has resulted in my coming to a really positive ending to my degree even during such uncertain times. I care about real people, movements and cultures. How and why they exist. I have developed my photography skills extensively during this time and have learnt about what interests me. I am an activist, and hope that this will take me somewhere in the future!