Words and Photos

I've always wondered about that old cliche, "a picture is worth a thousand words." It seems to be so widely accepted as gospel, at least by Americans, that I sometimes wonder why writers even try to practice our bruised and battered craft any longer.

I sincerely wonder what picture could trump 1,000 words of a great novelist, or for that matter, a great essayist, not to mention a great investigative reporter.

Not to criticize in any way great photographers. I forever remember Joe O'Donnell and his photo of a young boy carrying his (dead) little brother in a backpack, for burial after one of our atomic bombs hit Japan.

That photo indeed was worth 1,000 words, actually many more than that.

But some stories are not so visceral in nature. Take love, for example. This is a nuanced topic.

It requires great care to write (or photograph) the thing we call love.

Love is not easily categorized into any one form or type; it appears unexpectedly in all sorts of settings.

Sometimes, a young person, seeking a summer job, meets an old person who needs help walking her dog. When that works out, we can call that love.

Sometimes, two divorced people, former mates, find a way to cooperate and do the right thing on behalf of their kids. We can call that love.

Sometimes, a stranger is in need, and someone steps up to help. We can call that love.

Sometimes, on the verge of suicide, someone will call a help line. The person on the other end talks them down, helps them get through the moment, and live to see another day.

We can call that love too.

My point, probably pretty obvious, is that there are many flavors of love beond our narrow, Western notion of romantic love.

I could go on, but I won't, for now.

BTW, the above constitutes around a third of 1,000 words, so I suppose it equates to a third of a photo, right?

My question is, which third?

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