Perspective from the Other Way Around

Close your eyes for a moment, then open them. Your eyes present you with a tableau that places you at the center: Distant objects shrink, foreground objects obscure those in the background, and receding horizontal lines converge. This is a common perception. We instinctively assume that everyone sees this way. Artworks are also expected to imitate this perception. Many paintings represent objects and space in accordance with perspective, turning this perception into a law. When looking at a beautiful painting, we check if perspective has been followed, or we look for adherence to perspective when expecting children to draw better pictures.

This is precisely what Florensky's 1920 text questions. Is perspective as "natural" as we initially assume? Did those who created Byzantine icons or Egyptian reliefs truly not know perspective or were they simply unable to execute it? As a mode of seeing, when, why, and how did perspective become a law?

What is the meaning of this text from the early 20th century? What can it mean for us, here, today? We are publishing "Reverse Perspective" with Zeynep Sayın's Foreword, which explores these questions.