Visual representations are never neutral
“The series and book criticize traditional Western cultural aesthetics by raising questions about hidden ideologies in visual images.”
“Berger asserts that only twenty or thirty nudes in the European oil painting tradition depict a woman as herself rather than as a subject of male idealisation or desire.” (Wikipedia)
All citations from: John Berger, Ways of Seeing, Penguin, 1972, p. 45-51
The book is based on the 1972 BBC series hosted by John Berger and can be found on youtube.