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Photos and Images are More Powerful than Words Essay

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Images are More Powerful than Words

The American Heritage College Dictionary defines the term image as “An optically or electronically formed representative reproduction of an object, esp. an optical reproduction formed by a lens or a mirror.” This is what is more commonly referred to as a picture. The definition of a word is “a sound or combination of sounds, or its representation in writing or printing that symbolizes and communicates a meaning and may consist of a single morpheme or a combination of morphemes.” In fact, there is a constant debate about the importance and significance of both forms of communication. Because either one can be interpreted and considered differently, depending on who the viewer or reader is, …show more content…

Even though both the tour guide and a pamphlet told everyone exactly what the organization’s purpose was, the Mural actually said more than needed to be said, without the aid of any words. One can agree with Mitchell Stephens’ statement in “By Means of the Visible: A Picture’s Worth” that “certain pictures can put most sentences to shame” (486), because the images illustrated in this Mural put, every single word that was written in the UN pamphlet or spoken by the tour guide, to shame. They gave a deeper and more spiritual meaning, that went above and beyond the mere one-dimensional meaning, of the words used, both written and spoken.

Since motion pictures are a form of imagery, the next image is from the movie, Coming to America. The chosen image was when Akeem, the Prince of Zamunda, was getting married at the end of the movie. When he pulled up the veil of his bride, after thinking that he had lost Lisa forever back in Queens, the look on his face, when he saw that Lisa was not in New York, but in Zamunda, waiting to become his bride, was a mix of joy, anxiety, relief and passion, just to name a few. All of the emotions that were on his face, at that particular moment when he realized that he was going to finally wed the woman he truly loved, cannot possibly be described by enough words to complete this

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