A post by Elisabeth Camp

“A picture is worth a thousand words,” or so the saying goes. But which words, and to what end? ... Here, I want to focus on how three differences between imagistic and linguistic systems – in content, perspective, and force – conspire to shape the economics of imagination: in who pays, in what coin, for what result. There is no global currency of ‘worth’, but there are systematic tradeoffs to be navigated, by both maker and audience.