This article discusses the place of cinema and video in the formation of visual culture from two perspectives. In the first part, the position of concepts such as gaze, power, body and surveillance within the transformation of visual culture is examined. In this part it is discussed that the concept of gaze is closely related to the concept of power. Furthermore the subjectivity of prying / being pried which has been founded historically is also analysed. In the second part it is discussed what kind of a place cinema and especially cameras have opened for the viewer in the culture built historically and publicly by the effects of power. While visual culture is conditioning the modern individual and, at the same time, created with the effects of power, on the other hand camera techniques have an influence which goes beyond this historical conditioning and which reveals the creative potential of the subject. As for in the third section, it is discussed how the camera has been personalised thereby pushing the limits of video and cinema. Video has transformed the outlook on the body, enabled the creation of new properties. In this sense, the place of camera has changed within video art and modern visual clture.