This is a collection of essays or meditations on looking and seeing or, fundamentally, visibility. The means of making something visible is important, but not necessarily the main point. Photography is covered, as in The suit and the Photograph, an essay on the work of Paul Strand, and a response to Susan Sontag’s book On Photography. Art is also covered, and I found his “take” on Magritte especially interesting.
The prose is functional, competent, rather than lyrical. No reason it should be lyrical, of course — this is a non-fiction book after all — but I do find it a little dry.
I’m looking forward to reading the chapters on Turner, Millet, and why we should look at animals.
