影像
yǐngxiàng · HSK 7
picture
🖼️ 影 = shadow + 像 = likeness; a shadow-likeness is an image or blip
Both characters point to a copy of something real: 影 covers shadow and reflection, 像 covers likeness and resemblance. Stack them and you get 影像, the captured copy itself: a photo, a video frame, or a faint blip on a screen.
像 — person radical 亻 + elephant 象
Originally 象 alone meant 'elephant' and by extension 'image/likeness,' since elephants were rare and people knew them mainly through depictions. The 亻 (person) radical was later added to specialize the meaning as 'image, likeness, resemble,' leaving 象 for the animal itself.