John Berger's - Ways of Seeing 

This four part documentary about the visuals of western culture allows us to see how invention of the camera has changed our perspective of iconic paintings; how women have been portrayed through European art and whether this representation of women still effects how they feel about themselves today; how oil painters were able to portray people and their lifestyle in such detail allowed this to become the medium of choice to showcase a persons life; and finally Berger analyses how the use of advertising in modern life makes us buy into a dream lifestyle,whilst showing how this relates back to the oil paintings which were also used to promote an extravagant and luxury lifestyle.

It was this final episode in the series which impacted on me the most, as it effects us everyday. We continuously see product promotion without even realising. We are subconsciously wondering how these products would make our lives better, make us more popular and admired. What interested me the most about this episode is how it related back to the oil paintings of the past. However the people who commissioned these paintings to showcase their possessions, actually lived these glamorous lifestyles. Whereas we just fantasize of the images of advertising. Even if we do own some of these material objects that are so widely sought after then it only makes us feel important, even powerful for a short period of time until we see the next best thing to own.