About the Blue Portrait, or About Words as My Friends

Written by Ana Bilić

Inspirational images have something magical about them, because they move in the realm of the difficult to define. One of the blue portraits of me, taken by Danilo Wimmer, inspired Peter Paul Wiplinger, a famous Austrian writer and photographer, to write the following equally inspirational reflection on November 15, 2024 and publish it as a social media post:

Ana Bilic – Portrait in Blue

A very interesting, wonderful portrait. Photo art! Not just because of the monochrome in the color blue (gradations of color intensity!), but also because of the angle of view. This is the determining and decisive factor for the individual view of the person taking the photo and the person being photographed. This portrait contains and conveys something of a „noble distance“, a withdrawal of the photographer, the photo artist. So, what I note about it: the photo is in landscape format, of the face only the eyes/nose, a fraction of the photographed head; as if from a distance. This signals distance, a certain unapproachability, respect for the person depicted; and at the same time closeness, intimacy through this detached cautious approach. No eye contact. A complete being (letting go) of oneself. It is difficult to put into words what this picture tells us, what its effect is, what it conveys and how. In any case, it gave me a deeper insight into how diversely one can see and portray people.

I am also enthusiastic about the portrait and its complexity also makes an impression on me. One of the things that impressed me was that one of the most sensitive parts of the body is strongly lit in the foreground – the neck. An injury to the neck is life-threatening and here the neck is exposed without protection. The vulnerability is courageously displayed and that touches me.

Why do people react like that to a picture?

Is that something new? That a picture has such a big effect on people? No, definitely not. ‚A picture is worth a thousand words‘ is the saying. And a thousand words can tell us a lot. A picture explains a complicated issue very simply and transparently, people understand a picture much more quickly than a long text, you don’t need any training to see a picture, reading text requires a certain level of reading skills, a picture always evokes emotions in people, a text doesn’t always, etc. Does that mean that pictures came into being before words? That pictures are older than words?

Which actually comes first: word or image?

The first human was definitely able to see first and change the external world through the image he saw – being able to articulate oneself with the help of words comes later. Seen in this way, it is clear – images came earlier. – But what does it actually mean to ‘articulate oneself with the help of words’? Can one articulate oneself and communicate with others without words, influencing the outside world? Yes. The first human lived in social groups from the beginning and communicated with each other. Is linguistic articulation as it is today the prerequisite for shaping and changing reality? No. The first human’s word was not articulated like it is today, but it served well. -What about a newborn? It sees its surroundings unclearly, but it influences the surroundings with its way of communicating. It does not rely on the image, but interacts with the help of sounds. The word – in the form of sounds with meaning – is then much more important than the image.

But why am I telling you all this? What is the point?

Freedom bearers

All of this brings me to the topic of what is inspiration and why is an image inspirational. The process itself is actually simple: we have an image with many meanings and we have words as an articulation of these meanings. In my opinion, inspiration lies elsewhere: images like this portrait and words as a description of the portrait are freed from their purpose and from their useful function. They are inspirational because they do not serve any purpose, but rather they exist freely and unbound. They are the expression of freedom. Can one exist without my blue portrait? Of course. Can one exist without this blog entry? Of course. Neither the image nor the word is existentially important. But can one strive for and achieve freedom without dealing with freedom as a topic? No.

Yes, that is where the inspiration lies for me as a writer. Where there is no purpose in the physical world, there is a lot to tell. Image is one of the challenges, to articulate yourself better with the help of words and to tell about yourself. Because telling yourself means understanding yourself better. To find a better image of yourself.

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