A picture is worth far more than a thousand words
“A picture is worth a thousand words”
It’s one of those statements that you grow up hearing but never really put much thought into. After a few seconds of contemplation, the meaning seems obvious. That being said, I think there is an inherit flaw with its’ specific language.
Based on an average speaking speed of 125 to 150 words per minute, 1000 words is just a 6:30 to 8:00 minute long speech. A 1000 word essay with proper MLA formatting is just an average 3 to 4 page paper. I don’t know about you, but I have had to write hundreds of 3-to-4-page papers during my years of school.
When you analyze the scale of a thousand words, you realize that the idiom mention before is a mockery of the impact that imagery and visual communication can have.
Visual story telling is really exactly what it sounds like. It is the use of visual elements – including photos, videos, and graphics – to convey a story or message.
Using imagery for the sake of communication and storytelling is ingrained in who we are. Visual communication can be traced back to over 12,000 years ago. At the beginning of the Neolithic period, images were carved onto cave walls and rocks. These images were literally made for the purpose of illustrating a story.
Nowadays, we all carry cameras in our pockets everywhere we go. In his book Multimedia Storytelling for Digital Communicators in a Multiplatform World, Seth Gitner beings up the idea that from the time we are born cameras are put into our faces and photos of our newly born selves are sent around the world. Even children have access to tablets or other devices that allow them to take and share images.
Embracing the use of visuals for communication and storytelling is essential to how we get information. Therefore, knowing how to properly analyze and incorporate the different elements of storytelling into our imagery will make us better communicators.
Four Storytelling Principles.
In an article for Amplifi, Mike Montalto discusses four main principles of visual storytelling. These are sensory, relevancy, authenticity, and archetypes.
Looking at the image above, we see a young child holding a sign “no guns”. To most viewers, this would immediately hit their emotions.
Montalto talks about in his idea of sensory that to get your image to stand above all the noise of the current digital world, you need to encourage them to stop. For Americans who have seen a staggering number of deaths to gun violence in recent years, they are bound to feel emotional when seeing this image. Without any other context in the image, you can see his solemn expression and the simplicity of the statement on his sign. Viewers also know that kids this age are unfortunately continually falling victim to these atrocious crimes. That is why this image creates so much emotion for its viewer.
To give more context about this image, I took it at an anti-gun violence protest in the summer of 2022 in my hometown of Newtown, Connecticut. In 2012, a shooting occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary school in town, killing 26 people. Knowing this context makes the image all the more powerful to Americans, especially those from Newtown. This sense of relevancy shows that what is being fought for in the image is not far from home and that it can happen anywhere.
Looking at another, more positive example, the image above shows soccer players rushing the field to celebrate with their teammates. This is the Quinnipiac University Women’s Soccer team, and this is the moment that they won the 2023 MAAC Championship against Fairfield University.
This image helps to illustrate Montalto’s principle of authenticity. The candid, raw emotion seen in the image is not something that can be described verbally, only shown. This is why visual storytelling is so crucial. Without any context, you can see how excited and celebratory the girls in this photo are.
The image can also be used to show the concept of archetypes. Character archetypes are blueprints for characters in stories that an audience can recognize based off of previous knowledge of other stories. For example, the girls in the middle of the photos being swarmed by the team can be considered the heroes or the warriors. They are the people who won the game in the end and secured victory for the team. Alternatively, the girl in red in the foreground of the image can be considered the outlaw. She did what she could to try and stop Quinnipiac from winning, although ultimately failed in the end.
Other Visual Storytelling Elements.
Montalto’s storytelling principles are a great place start when created your imagery, but there are a few other things to consider.
One thing Erica Santiago brings up in a piece on Hubspot is the importance of the visuals. Now I know this may seem obvious as we are talking about visual storytelling, but here me out.
Creating an image that is visually compelling and provides context is crucial to the story of it. On September 4 of this year, Quinnipiac University received a bomb threat via YikYak. Luckily, the threat amounted to nothing. However, in the image above, you can see how the visual elements tell a story.
The Quinnipiac branding and the “Carl Hansen Student Center” text on the building show exactly where the image is. Even for people who are unfamiliar with the institution, you see the words “student center” with police activity.
Other elements in this image include the yellow tape, the police, and the police dogs. These elements contrast the beautiful, well-manicured student center with chaos and danger. The visual elements in this photo really help to illustrate the current state of American schooling systems.
Looking at a more artistic example, there is this image I took of a plug outside of an outlet. The composition of the visuals in this image help to show a literal disconnect. One may conclude that the image represents feeling disconnected from something or being unable to find the energy for something. Although I’ll leave that interpretation up to the viewer, the visual elements (or even the lack of excess visual elements) help to provoke thought in its viewers.
Storytelling Techniques
In his book, Essentials of Visual Communication, Bo Bergstrom discusses three types of storytelling techniques, that are interesting to analyze from the perspective of visual communications.
The image above is a great example of the first of these techniques, dramatic storytelling. Dramatic storytelling is kind of like hand-holding the viewer through the analysis of the image. There is little room for interpretation. Looking at the image above as an example, you can see a girl standing on a New York City Street, looking out at all the commotion.
The layered composition of the image forces a sense of direction and place in the image. That is not up for interpretation. We also have preconceived notions about being in New York City and the feeling of the nonstop part of the world that it is. Granted, the girl’s motives in this image and what she is thinking about can be interpreted. However, the sense of place, direction, and story are pretty definitive.
I took this image at a park in Oregon, and it is a great example of the second of these techniques. Non-dramatic storytelling is basically the opposite of dramatic storytelling. This photo is so much more open and up for interpretation. You don’t have to know much context to contemplate the different aspects of the photo.
One example of this is the red car in the parking lot. That pop of color stands out among the rest of image. The viewer may consider: What is so important about this car? Who left it here? Why is it so far from the other cars? What may be inside of it? Obviously, there are many other elements to dissect here, but I will leave that up to you to contemplate.
The last of these techniques is the middle ground. The interactive storytelling technique allows the creator of the image to give certain distinct details about the image, the leave the rest for interpretation.
In the image above we can see an old looking passenger boat with a creepy silhouette driving it. The image shows that the riders are about to go under a bridge. This is the given information. The viewer may wonder, however, what is under the bridge? Where is this creepy person taking the riders of this boat? As you can see, you get both aspects of the other two techniques.
Conclusion
I know I discussed a lot of different elements in this piece, but it goes to show how much goes into visual storytelling. It is not simply pressing the button on a camera or making a few lines on a paper and calling it a drawing. Visual storytelling seeks to guide the viewer and convey certain emotions or feelings. Knowing these techniques is a great asset for communication purposes, allowing you to better convey your overall message.
So next time someone tells you a picture is worth a thousand words, tell them it is worth millions.
Hi! My name is Peyton McKenzie.
I am a professional graphic designer, photographer and content creator.
I encourage you to explore my portfolio to get a better idea of the work I create. If you are interested in working with me or have inquiries of any kind, don’t hesitate to reach out over email.
