# Is a picture really worth a thousand words? What thousand words?



## JumboShrimp (Feb 2, 2014)

“Is a picture really worth a thousand words? What thousand words? A thousand words from a lunatic, or a thousand words from Nietzsche? Actually, Nietzsche was a lunatic, but you see my point. What about a thousand words from a rambler vs. 500 words from Mark Twain? He could say the same thing quicker and with more force than almost any other writer. One thousand words from Ginsberg are not even worth one from Wilde. It’s wild to declare the equivalency of any picture with any army of 1,000 words. Words from a writer like Wordsworth make you appreciate what words are worth."  
― Jarod Kintz, This is the best book I've ever written, and it still sucks 

... A very strange quote : I thought you all might enjoy. (And thanks to Joe Farace of Shutterbug Magazine for finding it.)


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## neuroanatomist (Feb 2, 2014)

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," repeated 100 times. There's your thousand words...


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## helpful (Feb 2, 2014)

When I see that quote, I assume that it is talking about a long newspaper article trying to describe a noteworthy person or event. So that is the thousand words that I think of.

For a photographer, a more appropriate question is to ask, "What picture?" Some pictures definitely don't tell a story, and aren't worth a thousand words. Imagine a photo of a gunfight. The answer to "What picture?" that could tell a thousand words would be a photo showing inconspicuously the town's name, some landscape that would show the locality, someone's expression showing how the hero was regarded, as well as someone's expression showing how the villain was also a human (like the sad face of his mother), and of course both of the prime characters in the gun fight--showing a story in each one, although not necessarily with their faces.

This is what makes photography so much a different art than videography. With video, you simply take a video of the event, and the story is told. Improving the story is a matter of improving the perspective and directing the event. With photography, it is completely different. In order to tell a story with a picture, it is not enough to simply take a picture of the story, but to put the parts of the story together in the picture. A low angle of a flock of baby ducks splashing water above themselves and quacking merrily would make a photograph that told a story. (This example comes from a recent photo situation I saw near a highway in my city.)

A photograph essentially requires the use of art in order to effectively tell its story. With a video, the story can be told even without the use of art. With the example of ducks above, a photograph of some yellow blobs several feet straight down out the window of your car on top of a one-dimensional spot of wetness on a service road to a freeway downtown would tell nothing. A video straight down out the window of your car of those same yellow blobs would still tell the story that they were ducks splashing in a puddle, but there would be no art involved. You can see the birds splashing in a video, regardless of the art involved. But a photograph to tell the story of the birds splashing requires greater artistic achievement. And to tell the full story of where the birds were downtown near the freeway would require a very beautiful touching photo. A video telling the same thing could be absolutely horrible, though, simply rotating the camera to the highway and then back.

The standards of art are far higher for telling a story with a photograph. And "What picture?" can tell a thousand words is a question that we as photographers make a life out of answering.


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## rpt (Feb 2, 2014)

sure is a slow couple of years for Canon if we have to debate the quality of a thousand words on this forum...


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## K-amps (Feb 2, 2014)

Same with Aromas... how do you describe smell to someone who cannot smell... you need a lot of words.


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## Hillsilly (Feb 2, 2014)

Imagine going back in time to the late 1800's / early 1900's. Few people traveled widely. Literacy wasn't universal. How would you describe a car to someone who hasn't seen one? An aircraft? The pyramids? The Statue of Liberty? A pineapple? A rhinoceros? And then along comes photography and the ability to publish images in newspapers and magazines of all the amazing things in the world. Wow! What an eye opener it must have been. 

The term "a picture's worth a thousand words" started to evolve around 1900. Interestingly, a quick search suggests that the first noted usage of the exact phrase was in the title of a 1918 advertisement for "The San Antonio Light's Pictorial Magazine of the War". As with all wars, I suspect that the returning servicemen struggled to describe the horrors of trench warfare. How can you adequately describe that? And many just wanted to forget. Photographs could help loved ones understand more.

I agree with helpful, above. These days, the question shouldn't be "who's words?", but simply, which photographs are worth a thousand words? In the early days days, photography was important. But now, the world is saturated with photographs. Our challenge as photographers is to take photos that people care enough about that they will take the time to look closely at the photo, appreciate the uniqueness/beauty/importance of the image, and have a better life because of it. I know I want to take photos that are worth a thousand words.


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## Vossie (Feb 2, 2014)

Hillsilly said:


> Imagine going back in time to the late 1800's / early 1900's. Few people traveled widely. Literacy wasn't universal. How would you describe a car to someone who hasn't seen one? An aircraft? The pyramids? The Statue of Liberty? A pineapple? A rhinoceros? And then along comes photography and the ability to publish images in newspapers and magazines of all the amazing things in the world. Wow! What an eye opener it must have been.
> 
> The term "a picture's worth a thousand words" started to evolve around 1900. Interestingly, a quick search suggests that the first noted usage of the exact phrase was in the title of a 1918 advertisement for "The San Antonio Light's Pictorial Magazine of the War". As with all wars, I suspect that the returning servicemen struggled to describe the horrors of trench warfare. How can you adequately describe that? And many just wanted to forget. Photographs could help loved ones understand more.
> 
> I agree with helpful, above. These days, the question shouldn't be "who's words?", but simply, which photographs are worth a thousand words? In the early days days, photography was important. But now, the world is saturated with photographs. Our challenge as photographers is to take photos that people care enough about that they will take the time to look closely at the photo, appreciate the uniqueness/beauty/importance of the image, and have a better life because of it. I know I want to take photos that are worth a thousand words.



+1 well said


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## rpt (Feb 2, 2014)

Vossie said:


> Hillsilly said:
> 
> 
> > Imagine going back in time to the late 1800's / early 1900's. Few people traveled widely. Literacy wasn't universal. How would you describe a car to someone who hasn't seen one? An aircraft? The pyramids? The Statue of Liberty? A pineapple? A rhinoceros? And then along comes photography and the ability to publish images in newspapers and magazines of all the amazing things in the world. Wow! What an eye opener it must have been.
> ...


Yup! He hit the head on the nail!


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## distant.star (Feb 2, 2014)

.
What is "worth" worth?


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## Don Haines (Feb 2, 2014)

focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus 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focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus 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## slclick (Feb 2, 2014)

Dustin thinks so


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## AcutancePhotography (Feb 3, 2014)

A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words. - Ansel Adams


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## Larry (Mar 5, 2014)

Hillsilly said:


> I know I want to take photos that are worth a thousand words.



I would like mine to be worth one word, …"Wow!"


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## J.R. (Mar 5, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus foul cus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus focus



You have a style which I find quite fun. Reading you post of a thousand words and then the photo, I immediately understood it was you posting 

PS: It would have been (even more) obvious if it was an OOF cat photo


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