Detached from scene-setting context, the face of Samita in Miranda Lichtenstein’s photograph is expressive but emotionally elusive. Even though the artist’s camera captures the figure’s activated features, the reason for her downcast eyes and opened mouth is not evident. By digitally draining the color from the image, Lichtenstein has made her subject even more apparition-like. In this sense, the artist uses photography as a means to withhold rather than document the details of reality, and creates a portrait that allows us to perceive the drama of human existence in a universal way. Lichtenstein achieved this transcendent image by photographing an opera singer performing for an audience of only the artist and her camera.