Unknown Sitter is third lot (lot 02) of the Privacy Collection.

Historically, the subject of a portrait who could not be identified would be called an ‘Unknown Sitter.’ The sitter is visible, but not identified.

Unknown Sitter (2022) by Operator has similarities to others in that the sitter’s identity has also been lost—but there is another lost layer. Created through Operator’s Privacy Portraits, a durational performance installation in London where collectors had their portraits taken and anonymized, this portrait developed with no visible subject. As no names were attached to the photos, we have a sitter who is not only unidentifiable, but also invisible. 

Even though Unknown Sitter appears to be blank, it is a portrait. There is a person in this photo, a person who is thinking about something they prefer to keep private–the prompt given to each sitter before the photo was taken. It may even be considered a portrait of absence. 

The collector of Unknown Sitter receives both the physical and a digital portrait.