In his book The Essentials of Visual Communication, Bo Bergtrom says it can seem as though pictures are our enemies, but letters are our friends.
He says most people are afraid of pictures; and analysing a picture can often say more about the person doing the analysis than about the picture itself, which turns the process into a kind of self-portrait. He suggests that on this basis we have to hope that the pictures teach us the value of admitting our secrets and the dangers of hiding them.