Hidden Portraits (Out of the Blue)

"Hidden Portraits" is the fourth collaborative work of Olicía and artists from other fields. This installment takes on the form of a song by Olicía and a series of analogue photographs taken by the Dresden-based photographer Micha Steinwachs. Thematically, the joint work revolves around encounters - it explores what we reveal about ourselves and assume about others. The song uses a folk-style fingerpicked guitar as a point of origin – which is unusual for Olicía. The music and their beautifully layered vocals are set against the backdrop of a field recorded train ride-conversation and adorned with a gorgeous clarinet arrangement, drum samples, and vocal percussion.

Anna-Lucia says: “Hidden Portraits is about that fresh state of mind in which you're getting to know another person. You see someone as they are, but you don't show or perceive everything all at once. There's little details that you can discover, but others that aren't showing, yet. For me, that's the beauty of getting to know someone: being open, vulnerable and curious.” Fama adds: “In daily encounters, we show parts of ourselves that we are willing to expose and hide others. And sometimes this applies to intimate relationships as well. That’s where the song came from - the question of who the other person really is, based on the perception we have.”

The complementary work by photographer Micha Steinwachs is a series of street portraits taken with an analogue medium format camera over the course of one year. It is released in the form of a limited postcard box set. The works show concealed portraits that depict the person in full, raising questions about their life stories and personalities without actually showing any faces. “Whenever I saw someone who interested me and I felt confident enough, I asked for a picture. Every encounter carries a little excitement: What if they don’t like me? What if I bother them? In most cases, I was met with curiosity and an openness towards being photographed. The portraits are hidden. They are an invitation to make a first step towards someone. And to ask: Who are you?”

Micha Steinwachs

Micha Steinwachs is a journalist and photographer. Coming to photography as a teenager, he has dedicated himself primarily to analogue photography for the last eight years. He focuses on the documentary. He sees street portraits as a means of getting in touch with people - even if only for a brief moment. Micha co-founded the photo collective Kalamari Klub. He lives in Dresden.

Instagram, Kalamari Klub 

Out of the Blue

Out of the Blue is a cycle of songs and corresponding works of art that are born from dialogue – from conversation and exchange between the two musicians in Olicía and artists in other genres, such as painting, fashion, dance, literature, film making, design, or arts and crafts. The works are gradually developed, ping-ponged back and forth, playfully shaped into their final form. Learning and borrowing from one another in the process - adapting strategies, materials, structures, or approaches. From an exchange of ideas and sentiments and their - at times - vague and fuzzy articulations into dots and notes, shapes and chords, textures, patterns, configurations, and designs. In the end, the result will be two separate works of art, existing on equal footing, sharing the same seed, still conversing with one another, complementing one another, or simply exploring the same ideas while venturing out into opposite directions. 

Supported by