Although Warhol was unhappy with his appearance throughout his life, self-portraiture was a recurring theme during his career. Role-playing was a central aspect of many of his self-portraits and his Polaroid camera was an effective means of quickly documenting these changing personae. In this work Warhol stares manically out to the right of the composition. He appears scared and surprised by something the viewer cannot see. From the 1970s until his death in 1987, many of Warhol’s self-portraits are haunted by his fear of death. This is more obvious in his self-portraits with skulls, but here, there is a sense of his fear of the unknown - perhaps what is beyond death.