A picture is (sometimes) worth a thousand words

Editor-in-chief Wieneke Gunneweg found herself thinking about it when she returned from a visit to the university’s art depot. The power of images, including at EM, cannot be underestimated.

A few months ago, we at EM moved offices, and the walls are rather bare, so we are now gladly making use of the option to borrow works from the Art Affairs department. At the depot we were able to have a look in advance to see whether the selected works appealed to us, and they did. So soon I will no longer be looking at a blank white wall, but at something bright green with a figure and a translucent tutu. I am already looking forward to the new energy it will bring.

The university opts for art on campus, in lecture halls and corridors, because art does something to you. Alongside all the brain training, the university also nourishes the heart and soul of students and staff in this way. Various scientific studies have found positive effects of art on mental and physical health.

But why am I writing this? At EM, most editors spend their days primarily producing texts, conveying information and insights through words and letters. I would not call it art, although a piece by an editor with a golden pen can certainly make you very happy. But as writers, we know perfectly well that a text without a strong image is less inviting to read and has less impact than when it is accompanied by fitting visuals that deepen and enrich the story.

That is why EM deliberately chooses to devote just as much attention to pictures as to text. For example, we have photographs of interviewees taken ourselves as much as possible. We invest time and care in briefing a photographer; the image must suit the person and their story. In fact, the photo tells an important part of the story.

This is of course especially true for news photography: it shows what is happening at that moment and that EM was there to report on the news.

EM also works extensively with illustrators, both professionals and students. The latter often join us through internships from the Willem de Kooning Academy. And that is when truly remarkable things happen; not a simple picture to match the text, but a wink or a visual puzzle, an alienating or, on the contrary, humorous image that adds so much more value to a story. And whether you can call that art is in the eye of the beholder.

And perhaps, as a reader, you do not always notice what a photo or illustration is telling you. Just like those artworks in the lecture hall or your office, you often pass them dozens of times without a thought. Until that one moment when you pause, your eye lingers, and you take the time to really look. And then you know it is true: a picture is (sometimes) worth a thousand words.