This research addresses the problem of image retrieval by exploring the semantic relationships that exist between image annotations. This is done by using linguistic relationships encoded in WordNet, a comprehensive lexical repository. Additionally, we propose the use of a reflective user-interface where users can interactively query-explore semantically related images by varying a simple parameter that does not require knowledge about the underlying information structure. This facilitates query-retrieval in context of the emergent nature of semantics that complex media, such as images have. Experiments show the efficacy and promise of this approach which can play a significant role in applications varying from multimedia information management to web-based image search.