As more of a writer than a photographer (and a speaker, for that matter), I have to say that I might personally be able to tell a story better in words than with a camera. But, as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Images are what people remember--images are what stick around for the most part, and continue to impact the psyche when words alone cannot.
It's true that there are instances where words are needed--when words say more than an image. For instance, I don't think anyone will argue with me that Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech makes a far greater impact than a picture of King delivering that speech. But more often than not, a picture can convey, in a single experience, those complicated emotions that leave us at a loss for words--the expression on a woman's face when her husband returns from a war.....the grief in the eyes of a man, uncertain of the future, staring out at his barren farm. An image transports a viewer into an experience, allowing them to be there, to be immersed in that indescribable moment. And in this way, a story is told in an instant.
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