Born to Palestinian exiles in Kuwait, Tarek Al Ghoussein found inspiration for his Self Portrait Series (2002–2003) in the similarities between the myth of Sisyphus and myths often propagated by western media post 9/11, in which Palestinians are seen as terrorists and the intifada is associated with acts of violence. Al Ghoussein notes that the Palestinian struggle to transcend this view has been ‘an ongoing uphill battle’, similar to the struggle of Sisyphus, who was condemned to perpetually roll an immense boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down every time it neared the top. The Self-Portrait Series comprises photographs of staged scenes of the artist wearing the traditional Palestinian headdress—the keffiyeh—positioned in front of airplanes, ships and waterfronts. Through these self-portraits, the artist reframes the ‘trademarks’ of the Palestinian intifada— a stone and a keffiyeh—using a light box, a medium commonly used for advertising and the promotion of consumer goods.