Photos, Photography, and Images - The Superiority of Images Over Words

The Superiority of Images Over Words

The battle for superiority and dominance between words and images is long and on-going. Both can be found everywhere, mostly in books, magazines, television, paintings, and movies. However, in more recent years, the dominance of images over words can be seen. In a world where better, faster, and easier communication is necessary, images are a far better option than words. Mitchell Stephens in “By Means of the Visible: A Picture’s Worth,” Ward Churchill in “Crimes Against Humanity,” and the director of Within These Walls, Mike Robe, concur that images such as gestures, symbols, and pictures have a widespread and profound influence. In truth, “painting is much more eloquent than speech, and often penetrates more deeply into one’s heart” (Stephens 473). Thus, images are more powerful than words because they communicate more clearly and concisely, cater for a wider and more diverse audience, and connect with people on a deeper level.

Images such as pictures dominate words because they can relay messages in a clear and succinct manner. The purpose of being able to communicate in the most effective way possible is to spread knowledge and information. However, when miscommunication becomes a factor and a problem, the quality of the knowledge being relayed becomes tainted. Stephens has found that images are a way to remedy this. He reasons that because “primates are visual animals, and think best in pictorial or geometric terms,” humans need images in order to fully explain and/or understand a concept (480). Unfortunately, the Nazis understood the power of this theory. Churchill found that while spreading anti-Semitic propaganda, the Nazis drew “grotesque caricatures of Jewish faces” (498). Immediately, messages of inferiority and hatred spread throughout Germany. Even without words, such pictures had a profound effect. It influenced “average Germans to later indulge in the outright liquidation of Jewish ‘vermin’” (501). Even though images were used negatively, it is clear that they have a deep effect on people’s perception and understanding. Words, however, cannot have the same effect. Because abstract words and emotions such as hate require “a deep understanding,” they “can be put into images but are difficult to put into words” (Stephens 480). Therefore, images remain dominant over words because a single picture can depict complex emotions that no word or group of words can accomplish.