Berger felt that white publications consistently depicted blacks in a bad light, and that whites’ journalistic exploitation of photos reinforced white domination. I’m somewhere in the middle. I feel that white publications exclusively cover the bad sides of the Civil Rights Movement, never showing photos of people peacefully protesting or simply standing up for their rights. On the other hand, I believe that nowadays, instances like this are treated much more seriously when it comes to exhibiting discrimination towards black people, such as the case of George Floyd and Trevon Martin.

I agree with Berger when he refers to the fact that photographs mostly show black people as victims and not as people who defend their rights, however it can be said that I am somewhat in between since we cannot deny that many times black people have stood out as people who defend their rights in several important movements in history. Like the one I have lived through, that is to say BLM.

Berger claims that the white press used photos of black people succumbing to white people to gain a sympathetic and revolutionary feeling out of them. He claims photographs used by the white press fed white superiority. I agree. These photographs gave white people reassurance that their power is not threatened. It gave them a false feeling that they are the ones in power to choose to treat black people equally or not.

1. According to Berger, he mentions that publicity stimulates our imagination either by way of memory or anticipation and is the process of manufacturing glamour. We can dream about what we pursue and effort to achieve by the inspiration of publicity. Moreover, publicity incentivizes people to make good money and improve their quality of life by introducing them to a new way of life.

2. Oil painting shows what the owner already has and the possessions were real to him. However, publicity pictures reveal to us the dream about what we aspire to. These differences are important because they offer us a new way of seeing. We look at oil paintings and publicity in different views so that when we see publicity that shows the items or even the life we fantasize about, let us have the motivation to fight for a good life instead of envy the superior in the oil paintings.

3. In the dream of later tonight, Berger created a lifely scene in which we are part of a good life and everyone is pleased. People are surrounded by gourmets and alcohol and are all enjoying the wonderful life. The imagery manipulates consumers by showing them what their dreams are supposed to be. That is an immersive experience for consumers.

Advertising images draws attention to emptiness that an individual did not know existed within themselves. The images may have just caught a consumer’s eye for just a few seconds but if it’s appealing enough the few seconds is all a producer needs. The advertising image’s purpose is to give the idea that purchasing the product would give the consumer a sense of fulfillment and bring them joy. John Berger refers to the publicity as “an alternative life”. The ads create envy you want what that person has in the picture, you want to feel how they feel but you can’t because you’re missing what they have, or you are not where they are. In the earlier years before the publicity there was the oil paintings which showed where a person was already in their life vs the ads which show where you want to be. Some advertisings impersonated or incorporate the paintings both showing a way of life that you do not live. What separated images from the paintings was the publicity gave instruction whereas the oil painting was just used to flaunt never showing how to reach the status of the owner. The advertising images played with one’s fear of deficiency of money as well never too much to make you scared but to urge “each of us to scramble competitively to get more “as John says. There was a dream being proposed a dream of the items touching your skin. That having such item against your skin will make you look better and creates a desire to feel the fabric against your skin playing with the desire to touch. The publicity gives a consumer either a sense of joy from an object or happiness of being in a particular place. It made sure to also show that if you did not have the glamour you became “faceless, almost non-existent” and no one wants to be irrelevant in society, so you feel compelled to buy the producers product.

1. According to Berger, publicity influences consumers to persuade them to a new transformation where people are portrayed as leveled-up citizens who will stand out in society and cause envy around them. Envy composes what glamour is about, and looks are based on it, making people want to look that way and achieve their dream of being part of that chain with no exceptions.
2. The difference between these two topics is that oil painting is to appreciate the beauty of things according to what you have, while publicity is all about selling, making the customer desire to have them aspire to become part of that lifestyle. In addition, these two are essential because they increment appreciation and value of things and persuade society to get them.
3. The dream of later tonight portrays satisfaction starting from people having fun with alcohol included leading to a specific event; therefore, its imagery makes the audience incorporate this new way of living, including freedom and no compromises.

1. 1. According to Berger, “publicity”–what we would call advertising–images influence consumers by “images of an alternate way of life.” Berger describes how publicity influences people to shop for more items that present themselves as richer or glamorous. Berger goes on to explain that we are spending money on things we do not need because glamor comes from the eye and the mirror. The same background the photographers are using for their publicity pictures is the same as the oil paintings. The models used in the pictures replaced the goddesses in the oil painting. When people owned these paintings “glamor” didn’t exist. 
   2. Berger argues that oil painting “showed what the owner was already enjoying among his possessions and way of life;” “it enhanced his view of himself as he already was.”  Whereas publicity pictures, “appeal to a way of life that we aspire to or think we aspire to.” These differences are important because when people see publicity they want to be just like them. They want to fit that same “glamorous” lifestyle to feel enviable. We spend more money to fit the description that we witness from models, high-end products, and gorgeous backgrounds. In the past, these oil paintings represented the owners because they were already from a higher class and wealthy. The productions of images for “publicity proposes to each of us in a consumer society that we change ourselves or our lives by buying something more.”
   3. In “The Dream a Far Away Place”, Berger basically explains how fantasy is far from reality. It creates a different world for the consumer. This world is the life consumers aspire to achieve. Advertisement basically manipulates consumers with empty promises to gain value. We are so tempted to fit ourselves in this fantasy because reality doesn’t compare. We as people are dreaming of this fantasy being our world so they can become more glamorous and desirable.

In the Introduction to his book Seeing through Race, Martin A. Berger (not related to John Berger) lays out the thesis of his book’s interpretation of the photography associated with the U.S. Civil Rights era (1950s &1960s). According to Berger, newspaper and magazine editors selected photographs based on their perceived power to draw out the of their white readers. The result, Berger continues, was that “the media could not assuage the racial anxieties of whites without affecting the depiction of blacks.” This meant that photographs that featured the black protestors succumbing to white violence was more common than depictions of black-led political action. In other words, editors, especially white ones, were more likely to use photographs featuring black people as victims as opposed to black people standing up for their rights.

Recently, we have seen a similar dynamic at play as media depictions of the killing of George Floyd caused many white allies to take to the streets in solidarity with black Americans. We have also seen media depictions of African-American protests incite white racial anxieties about black violence.

What do you make of Berger’s argument? Do you agree, disagree, or something in between? Use the information from Chapter 4 of They Say/I Say and the “Sheridan Baker Thesis Machine” and write a thesis statement in which you take a position on Berger’s argument.

1.Advertising, according to Berger, fuels customers’ fantasies. When consumers watch an advertisement, they perceive a level of living, and they believe it is what they should strive for. This is crucial because it has the potential to influence many people’s aspirations, since others may see publicity and believe they should accomplish the same thing.

2.The distinction between the themes of oil paintings and publicity is significant because it demonstrates the difference in the purposes of the two. It demonstrates that promotional pictures are created to particularly target dreams and elicit various emotions in people.

3.“The dream of a faraway place” was one of Berger’s dreams. The imagery used in this public relations campaign is used to influence customers in a variety of ways. By displaying the emotions of the individuals in the photos, and so on. Advertisements may depict individuals relaxing quite comfortably while appearing highly delighted, smiling, and so on. This creates a dream in the consumer’s mind by making them want to be in that situation.