Chapter 7 Summary and Analysis

Chapter seven begins with a photograph by Sven Blomberg, showing several contemporary advertising items reflected in reverse on an apparent store display window. This photo includes a mannequin, buildings, and billboard advertising among other items in a typical city view. Berger refers to them as visual messages and publicity images. These images are momentary, ever-present everywhere and constantly changing as one experiences modern daily life. The common element indicated by the author is that the images do not address the present, always point to the future, and often use the past to do so.

Generally, a viewer passes the publicity images while walking, driving, riding, or reading. The frequency and omnipresence provide the sense of a parade, although a viewer moves past them except for television. The images are like the weather or the climate in which viewers live. Their impact...