John Berger was born on 5 November 1926 in London, son of S. J. D. Berger and Miriam Branson Berger. Twice married and the father of three children, he now lives in the French Jura. Berger has not confined himself as a writer to any single genre or type of writing, but has produced innovative work in fiction, art criticism, social criticism, and "books of images and words" (the subtitle of the 1975 documentary A Seventh Man, produced in collaboration with Jean Mohr, the Swiss photographer). These set out to break down generic boundaries in order to synthesize creative and critical functions. In all his work the "unconditional modality of the visual image" (to borrow Yuri Lotman's phrase) is used to question what David Caute has called the "privileged anonymity" of the author.

He began his working life teaching painting and drawing and having his work exhibited at several London galleries...