Summer 1957

Holidaying with the family in the mountains, six-year-old Bill dives into a lake and narrowly escapes drowning. Years later he explains: “I was so enchanted by the beauty of what I saw below the surface that I was only frightened to death after my uncle rescued me. Water has played a key role in my world ever since then. It is life, but it can also destroy life; it prompts me to say: ‘go below the surface of things, aim for their soul’.” His Self Portrait, Submerged (Florence, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Galleria delle Statue e delle Pitture) refers to this incident.

Self Portrait, Submerged, 2013. Photo Kira Perov