From the eye to the gaze: debates about the sense of sight and techniques of observation and recording in modern science

Abstract

In this article, we will address the debates about the sense of sight and the techniques of observation in the register of modern science, with allusions to the impact they had in the field of geographical knowledge as well as in the ways of registering the geographical space. The main argument is that the techniques of observation went from being predominantly thought through the study of the functioning of the eye, perspective, optics and instruments that modify the natural vision, to the study of the techniques of interpretation of images produced with devices and techniques of communication of senses, of knowledge about geographic space and of geographic imaginaries. These issues will be addressed on three axes: a) the relationship between natural observation and the perspective development; b) the role of instruments in the observation and recording of the sensitive world, including ideas that postulate that the human eye is also an instrument, and c) the place of the technique in the problematization of the act of seeing and the cultural construction of the gaze.