OK, maybe that’s a bit of exaggeration, but M:Metrics is seeing a definite uptick in pictures accompanying messages. comScore today released the latest figures from its M:Metrics Benchmark Study which reports that photo messaging from mobile phones has grown 60% in the United States over the past year and 16% in Europe.

The firm reported that for the past three years photo messaging rates have been higher than average in July and August. According to Mark Donovan, senior vice president of comScore Mobile Products, the cameraphone could replace the postcard as users increasingly snap and send photos from their mobile devices.

In Europe, where photo messaging is more mature, usage rates are more consistent throughout the year, rising only slightly in summer.  Instead, usage tends to spike in December, as families share Christmas holiday celebrations and send photos from their newly acquired phones.  The same phenomenon is also observed in the United States, where photo messaging is also higher in December than it is in an average month.

M:Metrics was acquired by comScore in May.