A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words--Or Is It?

A tremendous post came through on my Facebook page the other day about the discovery and processing of 31 Rolls of undeveloped film taken by a soldier during WWII. The film was processed as part of The Rescued Film Project and the results are amazing. Thirty-one rolls full of stunning historical photographs that no one has ever seen before.

As I sat watching a few of the photographs pass by on screen, I couldn't help thinking how much more poignant they would be with explanations of who, what, where, when and maybe even why? I wanted to know who the young soldier was who appeared in so many of the photos; what country were they in and where were they headed as they gathered at the train station in a city that did not look like any I'd ever seen in the United States? How long had they been away from home?  As extraordinary as the pictures were, I wanted to know more. I couldn't help thinking how much more significant the find would be with explanations. I longed for the words. The text. The verbiage.

This brought up the familiar saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Like the saying itself, it's origin sparks discussion. One source called it an "Old English Idiom." Another attributed it to Frederick R. Barnard, who mentioned it in an article about the effectiveness of graphics in advertising, in the early 20th Century. Mr. Barnard claimed it came from a Japanese philosopher.

The saying, like the age-old question, "which came first the chicken or the egg?" is one to which there is no right answer. I would agree that in some aspects of the art world, the saying might hold true, but for me, as a writer, the absence of words in the WWII photographs was a disappointment. The images touched my heart, moved me in unexpected ways and made me want to know more.

Ironically, as I sat down with my husband later that evening to watch one of the Netflix movies that had come in the mail, I was shocked and delighted to find a title, picked at random, I might add, called, Words and Pictures. Filmed in 2013, the film, featuring Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche as instructors at a prep school, is about a debate they sparked in their students to answer the question, "A picture is worth a thousand words...or is it?"

I can't answer that question. I'm not sure anyone can. But I challenge everyone of you, especially all my writer friends, to rent Words and Pictures. Those of you who love words will delight in the battle between the two instructors to find multi-syllable words. The romance that emerges is also interesting. In my opinion, this film is well worth time taken out of your busy day. A must see for writers everywhere.

Is a picture worth a thousand words? What do you think?

The Rescued Film Project
https://petapixel.com/2015/01/16/31-rolls-undeveloped-film-soldier-wwii-discovered-processed/

Word and Pictures Trailer
https://www.google.com/search?q=words+and+pictures+trailer&oq=Words+and+Pictures&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l5.7995j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Sandra Warren has published works in multiple genres. Her latest book, We Bought A WWII Bomber peaked her interest in the initial Facebook posting referred to in this post.

We Bought A WWII Bomber Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUmxqhIpadI


www.arliebooks.com
sandra@arliebooks.com