I think what Jakob misses in his critique is the relationship of images and their context. Of course people spend more time looking at product photography and e

I think what Jakob misses in his critique is the relationship of images and their context. Of course people spend more time looking at product photography and even avatars on a Facebook page -- it's because the images have a direct relationship with the textual content the viewer is reading. One is directly related to the other. Does that mean photos without a direct relationship to textual information are somehow bad? I hardly think so. A well positioned, sized and selected photo contributes to the tone and message of a site. A user may not spend a lot of time looking at a decorative photo (which is a good thing) but the time they do spend looking at one (even for a split second) helps quietly generate an overall impression of quality, mood and professionalism. Of course I don't have a paid usability consultancy business or any hard data to back that up, but that's my impression.