“ In our urban world, in the streets where we walk, in the buses we take, in the magazines we read, on walls, on screens, we are surrounded by images of an alternative way of life.
Its a Language of words and images which calls out to us wherever we go, whatever we read, whatever we are.
Where do they exist, these fabulous rewards and objects and people?
Where do they belong to?
Here, there or nowhere.
They come with us everywhere.
We take them away in our minds.
We see them in our dreams. “ (John Berger / Ways of Seeing,1972)
It was in 1972 that John Berger had written about the power and influence of the media on us. Forty-five years later the story continuous, and the media gains more power and control over people.
It was when I returned to Mozambique in 2016, thirty-eight years after my departure at the age of three, that I discover a country with so much to be done. No roads, no basic sanitation, not enough schools, and much more to be done.
But the adverts got my attention, this language of words and images that I could see everywhere in large billboards creating needs, an unreachable reality, a dream!
I could see the big sharks with sharp teeth, preparing their prey for the lethal bite.
Banks, Insurance, Cars, Telecommunications…