A picture means.. ?

"A picture is worth a thousand words" - Anonymous

I think everyone would agree with the quote above. Whoever said it first, is a genius.
Seriously.

Quick Wondering
Well speaking of pictures/ photos, we all know there are two kinds of person when it's related to photos, at the very least. First, is a person who likes taking photos, and second, is a person who likes being in photos.

"But why?"

This is where it becomes more interesting. In a glimpse of thought, you might think "the person who doesn't like to be in photos must be a non-photogenic person" or "the person who likes to be in photos must have good-looking appearance."

But it's not as simple as that.
Again, why not?
Try to name your friends who aren't exactly good-looking but are in every photo.

And not to mention, there are good-looking people who enjoy taking pictures more than being in the pictures  him/herself.

Now back to the main topic.

The quote "a picture is worth a thousand words" got me thinking about what it really means.
What is "a thousand words"?

Say,
One picture, say, a photo of 5 men in a party, having so much fun.
It could mean:

For people who don't know any of the people in the photo, they can say "Wow they're having so much fun, it looks like a great party"
For their parents, they can say "Oh my how terrible kids thesedays. Do they throw party and get drunk every night or what?"
For themselves "Look at that, dude! You had the most priceless expression! The party was sick!"
For a relative who lives distantly from one of the 5 people, "How I miss my bro, I haven't met him for years"
For an ex-gf who happens to be looking through old photos of her ex-bf, "I miss him."
For (maybe) another ex-gf who happens to randomly seeing the photo of Facebook newsfeed "I'm so glad I left him. He's such a douche"

And, so on.
Those perspectives above can extend as wide as possible, because people have different interests, cultures, and relations with the picture.

It doesn't stop there.
A picture changes its meaning through the years.
One time a picture could mean nothing, but next thing it could turn into something more precious than your cell phone. (I don't even know why I compared it to a cell phone, but the point is, it always changes)

To me, pictures are the scaterred timelines of our lives. (Unless you keep them well in your folders or photo albums. To me they're scattered.)
I sometimes find myself seeing through old photos, like baby photos, family photos, friends photos, or my own photos. I often recall things which are actually not in the photo. Like "oh, I was having a toothache when I took this photo" or "Ah! Right after I took this photo, I fell off my bike and cried".
Funny to recall such things, but the pictures are the ones who made me still remember. We can forget things, but pictures keep them forever. I think it's what makes pictures are priceless in different ways.


But don't even start by saying "but Janet, people in those photos can change .. *insert sad tragic emoticon here*"
Of course they can. They're humans. We are too. We always change.

So, how do you feel about pictures?
Do you like to be in it? Or do you prefer taking it?
Leave comments below.

Live life to the fullest,
Janet.



nb: this post is about pictures. I should as well post a picture below.

Ultraman in suit. how cool is that

I thought I was cool taking picture with a new rubbish bin, in front of Burger King's sign.