John Ray, Week 12 - The Power of Pictures
A picture is worth a thousand words.
I used to think this saying was dumb. When I was a kid, I always thought words were more impactful because of how easy it was to explain things using words. I also wasn’t smart enough to understand the complexities of a picture. But I think the main contributor was the fact that my aunt would constantly take pictures of EVERYTHING. In every family gathering, she would be everywhere taking pictures of everything. From the food, to the little kids running around, to the adults all talking to each other, and she would constantly be asking people to pose for a picture. Everyone in my family found it annoying, and she would always respond by saying “I’m just capturing memories!”
As I got older I started to understand her more and more. The only way to capture memories is to take pictures. Describing a really fun night takes away from how special the night could be. While a picture can really capture everything. From the emotions of people who were there, to the overall atmosphere, which can really show how fun the night was. I have come to realize that my aunt really just wanted to capture these family gatherings and special nights to preserve for as long as possible.
This is why pictures are so powerful. They have the capability of making memories last a lifetime. I find myself taking pictures and videos way more than usual so that I can look back at them and reminisce on past events. Now that I’m older, I think I can say that pictures truly are worth a thousand words. 
"A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words"
Hello John Ray. I, too, have heard the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” a good amount of times and I think that there is merit in appreciating both photography and writing. As an avid fan of writing and literature, I might be a bit biased when it comes to this prompt, but I think that there are different, but equally valuable qualities in both forms of art. Photography is great at capturing the moment, the aura, the tone—as you mentioned—of that point in time, but I feel like pictures themselves do not tell a story in the same way that writing can. Don’t get me wrong, I think pictures are a beautiful form of art that people can use as an outlet for free expression and also to create a lasting impact on the audience. A good example of this is one photo called the Blue Dot which is a photo of Earth caught in a ray of light, looking infinitely lonely in the vast universe. There is something so grand about that little dot captured in space and time where everything that’s ever been and everything that ever will be takes place. That is a good photo. But for writing, I love the freedom that it gives you with interpretation. When an author writes, “a quiet, parking garage with uniform lines or gray, black, and white cars illuminated by a flickering fluorescent light” I see something completely different than what another person envisions. It is, in a sense, a collaboration between the reader and the writer to build the world in the novel. Both are beautiful, but different.
ReplyDeleteHello John Ray! This is such an interesting topic to think about and I'm very glad that you brought it up because it brought upon a sort of introspection for myself too. I love taking pictures. I'm not that great at it, not am I trained in photography, and the photos that I take are definitely not as good as I think they are. But I think my mindset is like your aunt's. I'm that one annoying family member that is always asking people to smile for a second, or taking the candid photos of someone making a silly face or just taking a photo of the adults sitting around deep in discussion and then they get interrupted by the bright flash of the camera that I forgot to turn off. But I understand where she is coming from, and now I understand where you are coming from as well. The thing about photos is that they have this incredible ability to capture a moment in time. You'll never be able to get these moments back...UNLESS you take a photo of it. You see a photo and all of a sudden all the emotions, the thoughts, the conversations, the actions, they come running back to you after being lost for all that time that you had not seen the photo. That's why your aunt was capturing those memories. That's why I loved photos. It feels like that one song from Mamma Mia, and, excuse my theatre kidness, where Donna sings "Slipping through my fingers, all the time." Time is just something that is so fragile because even if you handle it with care, it goes away. You'll never get it back. But that's exactly why you want to handle this with care. Because you never get it back. You want the imprint of you in these memories to be positive and happy and so much time could be wasted if we treat life negatively. Now I've gone off on a tangent but what I mean to say is that photos are so beautiful and are an art in itself. The act of being able to capture time like this is a beautiful thing in itself. So your interpretation of "a picture is worth a thousand words" is something I agree with you on. It has the ability to say everything without saying anything. Isn't that so crazy? So the next time you have a party or a celebration, smile for your aunt and her camera. Leave that lasting impression on that moment in time.
ReplyDeleteHi John, I was just like you as a little boy. My parents and my aunt specifically always wanted to take pictures and I remember I'd always throw a fit and be grumpy about it. I would complain nonstop about having to take pictures. I just wanted to play. But now many years later, I enjoy looking at these same pictures I complained about. They remind me of all the fun experiences and memories from the past. Priceless childhood memories that I can't have back. Of course I still remember these experiences but these pictures just hit so much different than just thinking back. Looking at old photos with your family and laughing is just a top tier memory of mine. Overall, your blog was very insightful and made me relive a fun core experience of mine.
ReplyDeleteI like how you depict your growth to begin appreciating your aunt taking photos. Recently, I have begun romanticizing photography, as it both captures a lifelong memory and serves as a tangible journey to the past. Hanging out with my friends is a rare event, and every time I see us laughing, I think of taking a picture. I always scroll on Instagram Reels, seeing the various captured memories of various friend groups across the Internet. Not only does this inspire me to do the same, but it also provokes me to hang out with my friends more. To me, the way a photo captures a thousand words is through its capture of a memory. I know, I’ve repeated that phrase a lot, but it cannot be emphasized enough when it comes to photos. I see pictures from years ago, and I can remember that exact moment, the laughs, and the joy I had that day. So, to me, your blog is a very powerful reminder of modern-day technology that we take for granted, which can preserve our memories for a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteHello John Ray. People tend to think that pictures are only meant for children. Children's books are often just pages with drawings and only a few words at the bottom. Children are seen as creative since they draw on all their assignments. As we grow up we become less and less creative since we are told that "art won't get you anywhere" so we stopped. This is the reason why we see pictures as childish and easy. However, last year for English I had Savoie as a teacher, and he chose to have us read and analyze the book "Maus." The controversial thing about the book"Maus" is that it is a comic book. Although, after an entire two months of analyzing each picture and even paying attention to the shading of the characters and the way they are drawn, it made me realize how overlooked pictures are at conveying things words can't. I agree with you when you say "the only way to capture memories is to take pictures." We often forget about special moments until we look back at the photos and then we are transported back into the moment. We remember being in that room again, the temperature- whether that was humid or icy cold. We remember that full feeling in our hearts. We remember the feeling we got when we looked at that person's face and the tone of their voice. This is the reason why I love the google photos app. Every day it will remind its user of what they did one year, two years, and even five years ago. After I will send that exact photo to the person I was spending my time with and we can bond over that memory once more. Thank you for writing.
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