You hear a lot in this business. "No one reads the copy any more", for example, has been said both in client meetings, important conference presentations and in other contexts. " The visual communication is taking over", is another postulate. Have you ever tried to sell something without having to describe in words what you sell? Just showing off a picture? One may well argue that consumers are fools who cannot read. But people are not stupid at all, they just choose what they want to read. If they want to buy something, a product or a message, then they will read the arguments for this. Both to choose for themselves, but also to learn as much as possible about the product before they buy it.
Of course, we need pictures , nice pictures, but it's the combination that sells. The captions are very important in any form of communication. Simply because it is the caption you will read after the eye has registered the image.