Life Without Images

 

What would it be like to live without images, pictures, photographs? There is an ad on TV that says we can now watch a newspaper, listen to a magazine or watch a phone conversation. Now everything is about the user experience and the interaction between technology and the user.

 

Today I write a weekly blog because of technology. There was a time in my life where reading a book was a chore. I didn’t like to read books; I preferred magazines. Magazines had pictures and I loved looking at all them. The images could take me to faraway lands and show me what they looked like; show me what the people wore or what they did. Sure, words can do that too but images can do it faster.

Now we write almost everything. There are millions of blogs on the internet (thank you for reading this one), we write emails and on Facebook walls, we text – we write a lot. My wife would rather text than make a phone call. But when we pick up a magazine or a newspaper we immediately look for the images. Images can tell us the overall story faster; they get our attention on newsstands as we walk by writing our texts to our spouses or our kids. Images have to be powerful to be able to pull our attention away from all those messages we are reading and writing.

 

We like images so much we invent them too. We create icons to represent sending test messages and emails. We have icons to open programs that allow us to write emails or blog posts. We fill our computer screens with images of our children, pets and places we love. We have images everywhere.

 

So what if all of a sudden images just disappeared? Maybe you recall the scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 where Hermione casts the spell “Obliviate” and she starts to fade from all the pictures in her parents’ home. What if all the images we see every day began to fade away like that? What would grab our attention and distract us from our words and messages?

 

Imagine a billboard along the highway without an image Sure there are some out there like that but do you actually read all of the text? If you need an image but none are available (Obliviate!), how do you get the same message across?  In a short amount of time, you don’t. If you put all the text up there then anyone who tries to read it all will end up in a ditch!

 

If images were no longer available the newspapers would not catch your attention, webpages would be dull and lifeless and the magazines I read as a kid would just be short books.

 

 

Imagine for a moment trying to describe this image, on a billboard, on a website or a newspaper. Can it be done in just a few words? Do the words, “Homeless man sitting on sidewalk” really tell the story?

 

 

Not to me. This image has an impact on me in so many ways. Even the words on his sign that are contained in it tell me more. “Can you help a homeless V. Nam vet get a meal? (On waiting list for VA Hosp. Thank you for your kindness! Peace and God Bless! *Please Support our troops*” but even those are just words. His posture, the hoody over his face, all tell me how this man has been humbled and he doesn’t want to be there; it hurts him to be there. Add in the water behind him, the trash and cigarette butts, even the paper he is sitting on; all tell a part of the story. None of those elements alone tell the story completely. The entire image, the surroundings and the ‘feel’ of the image say so much more. Words tell the facts; the image has impact upon you and your feelings.

 

So what is it you want to say? Let me help you say it, with images.

 

8 replies
  1. rita
    rita says:

    Michael, you are so right!
    A picture can convey what might take many words to express. A picture is worth a thousand words!
    Rita

  2. Scott
    Scott says:

    Michael,

    Thank you for sharing this, it really helps to keep things in to perspective. Your incite was amazing and encouraging. It makes me wonder how the picture we paint each day… no, each moment and how people view that. I really hope that the picture I paint is one that glorifies God. Thank again!

    Scott Earl – Permit-It.com

  3. Lexy Page
    Lexy Page says:

    So very well written. So very true, every nuance. And the picture… more than the written word could ever depict. Life without images? Is this what a blind person experiences? I can try to imagine, but I cannot fathom. Since a young girl and since the first camera in my hands, my life has revolved around imagery. I cannot image one facet of my life that isn’t affected by the power of imagery; planned or otherwise. Thank you for writing this. It is a wonderful reminder of the power and yet the responsibilities we have as photographers. We can and we do influence lives with our captures & impressions of life; not only for ourselves but for others as well.

  4. Martin Rayala
    Martin Rayala says:

    Very well put. Visual communication is hugely important so it is surprising that it is not taken seriously in education circles. This may be seem strange to you but people like Barbara Maria Stafford (in books like “Good Looking: Essays on the Virtue of Images”) have been documenting for decades how universities and other educational institutions discredit images as serious means of learning, thinking and communicating.

    That’s why visual art (while extremely important) is not the main battle ground in schools. The first priority is to get schools to accept visual literacy and visual communication along with verbal, written and mathematical communication. Visual thinking in science, mathematics, social studies, history, medicine, etc. needs to be a priority in schools (not just for self-expression and aesthetic purposes in visual art.)

    http://andDESIGNmagazine.blogspot.com

  5. Deborah Flowers
    Deborah Flowers says:

    I Thank God for my sight!
    Words without images are empty. Whether the images are actual pictures or a truth or kindness shown.
    I like your thought provoking post.
    ~Deborah

  6. Jon DeVaul
    Jon DeVaul says:

    Hey Mike, you and I are very similar. I always found reading magazines a lot more enjoyable than books. Not only that, most of my books are always how-to, or factual books. It’s hard for me to read novels. One book I did read years ago was by David Ogilvy…”Ogilvy on Advertising” He pointed out that a great ad needs a great photograph along with a great title.

    Deborah Flowers mentions “I thank God for my sight”. One of my brothers-in-law has diabetes. I kept telling him to watch his diet and stop drinking beer after work…he just blew me off. After at least 3 laser surgeries, he needs a magnifying glass to read the paper. He once got so frustrated that he said “this is worse than death”. I told my son if that was me, I’d rather lose a leg than go blind. So I guess, for me, a life without images would be a horrible place to live. Places that I’ll never see in my lifetime become “alive” through the imagery of the many great photographers out there. I guess I could go on and on, but I have to go out and shoot something 😀

  7. Michael
    Michael says:

    I too thank god for my sight. without it I couldn’t even imagine having the passion I do that gives me the career I have. The blind learn to see in different ways than I ever will. I assume they can imagine what it is like to see on some level Yet I never want to imagine what it is like to see and then lose that ability. I get frustrated when my bifocals aren’t straight! Images are to me what notes are to a musician, pieces of art that when strung together tell not only a story but they tell about life.

  8. Frank Meo
    Frank Meo says:

    This is really a wonderful discussion. While all of you are Zigging I like to Zag just a bit, after all it is the summer.

    First you need to know I’ve been repping photographers for 25 years. My company Meorepsents and my new company, thephotocloser.com are both well respected
    within our industry. I owe everything I have to the wonderful world of photography and the great folks I represent.

    Think about this: WHEN BILL TOLD HILLARY, RICHARD GERE WITH A GERBIL, CLEMENS TAKING STEROIDS, JEFFEREY DAHMER EATING A MEAL. We’ve all seen these
    moments crystal clear. These images are part of our personal visual library. So searing are these visuals that we could speak for hours about them just like our
    homeless man and with the same passion, ownership and nuance. Or these: PETE ROSE WITH HIS BOOKIE, MICHAEL VICK AT A DOGFIGHT, OJ FIGHTING WITH RON GOLDMAN,
    UNABOMBER, THEODORE KACZYNSKI IN THE POST OFFICE.

    All of these images are part of who we are as individuals, as photographers (or reps), as Americans and as people who “see it”. A few more for you: SONNY BONO HITTING THE TREE, MICHAEL JACKSON WITH LITTLE BOYS, MARV ALBERT IN WOMAN’S UNDERWEAR, ATTA IN COCKPIT, MENENDEZ PARENTS ON COUCH.

    So my point now is to let you “see” that you’ve never seen any of these. There are no visuals of these moments, zero! However the visual could not be more clear in our minds. Why is that? Reason is complex in a rather simply way. Our brains have the capability to “create” visuals be simply READING words. The non-stop media bangs us enough to the point where we create visuals of moments that we’ve never seen. Further, you get it because “you’re creative” but so does the accountant, lawyer, plumber, elected official, dry cleaner, investment banker and on and on. (I meant no disrespect to the plumber and dry cleaner by including them in that group).

    I could on with these: HITLER IN THE BUNKER, LADY DI IN THE CAR, SCOTT PETERSON DUMPING LACY’S BODY, ROMANS APPROACHING MUSADA, REAGAN SAYS “NYET” TO GORBACHEV, LORRAINE BOBBITT.

    The concept is that you can have a visual experience simply by reading words. That experience is, I believe, just as strong as “seeing” an image. Re read these and tell if you didn’t “see” each one.

    Thanks,

    Frank Meo

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