The Act of Seeing with Ones Own Eyes

Production

Brakhage shot the documentary using 16mm film without synchronized sound during a visit to a morgue in Pittsburgh.

Recognition

This film has been described as a study in observation and immersion, with one critic deeming Brakhage as a "documentarian of subjectivity", who uses film techniques to "(give) form to his eyesight." This critic argues that the film's primary aim is to "sensitize each viewer to his own subjectivity".

Some critics argued that the silent film style enables the viewer to form their own interpretations and judgment on the subject matter. Film critic Fred Camper described the film as "a curious, admittedly creepy, study of the varieties of light reflected off of skin, with luminous fluid appearing to dance with the camera". In a Senses of Cinema profile of Brakhage, filmmaker and curator Brian Frye wrote, "The key image of The Act of Seeing With One's Own Eyes is quite likely the bluntest statement on the human condition ever filmed. In the course of an autopsy, the skin around the scalp is slit with a scalpel, and in preparation for exposing and examining the brain, the face of each cadaver is literally peeled off, like a mask, revealing the raw meat beneath. That image, once seen, will never leave you." These critiques highlight the shocking and innovative nature of the film. The Academy Film Archive preserved all three films in 2010.