Total Transparency Filter (Portrait of N)

In this mysterious photograph, the viewer sees a seated figure draped entirely in a gray-and-white checkered cloth. It is recognizable as the default background of image-manipulation software Photoshop—the transparency filter to which the title refers. The subject is a student in the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and through this work, Stephanie Syjuco comments on the uncertain position of immigrants in the United States. Syjuco, a Filipino American artist, feels immigrants’ identity and path to citizenship are at risk of being erased. She uses fabric props in a way that complicates the legibility of the photographic image. The individual being photographed is present and corporeal but not completely visible. This imbues the picture with a haunting beauty that simultaneously challenges the viewer, subverting expectations of what a photographic studio portrait should convey.