Is a picture really worth a thousand words?  Would you rather get one untitled picture a month from a loved one, or several emails?  I’m assuming your average email is not longer than 500 words, and probably shorter.  What about in business?  Would you accept the occasional photo from your team leader instead of instructions?  Keep in mind that there would be no words attached to the photo, or it could not stand alone from the thousand words it supposedly triumphs.

Now, I’ll grant you that pictures are better at certain things.  You can describe the grandkids all day long, but Grandma and Grandpa are still going to want photos.  When describing a city, or natural wonder, words fail to convey what a picture can show with ease . . . although that may be assuming a higher skill level than is generally true of vacation photos.

But even in the case of descriptive photos–those meant to convey information–they are much more effective when a caption or note is included, and over time they lose what information they had unless some source of outside information is included or known.

So I’d take the thousand words over the picture.  But then, who’s surprised?  If I thought my best communication was through painting or photography, I wouldn’t be much of a writer.