I don't think anyone is completely devaluing images in communicating things; they just assign images to a lower priority in the communication order, one that is

I don't think anyone is completely devaluing images in communicating things; they just assign images to a lower priority in the communication order, one that is supportive rather than primary. Without the context of buying shoes, pictures of shoes tell me nothing. I can fill those shoes with all sorts of stories. (Static) pictures usually don't have implied ordering of information, unlike words, and videos, which require serialized focus to perceive.