Abdul Abdullah is renowned for portraits that depict subjects who have been ostracised by society in some way. Much of his work draws upon his own experiences of harassment as a Muslim man living in Australia. This self-portrait is part of a series of photographs entitled ‘Siege’, which allude to the ‘siege mentality’ that he has felt in having to defend himself against Islamophobia. The artwork, in which he adopts the persona being projected on to him, references the vilification that many Muslim people endured following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the USA and the ensuing ‘War on Terror’. Reflecting on the series, Abdullah has explained: ‘I wanted to examine the position of the marginalised, supposedly “radical” Muslim “other”, a politicised identity formed in the contemporary West.’