Lynette Yiadom-Boakye reinvents traditional portraiture as a conceptual endeavor, drawing elements from many sources (including nineteenth-century painting) and creating subjects from her imagination. Nous étions presents an elegant Black man whose subtle pose and contemplative expression counter societal expectations and provide the only clues to his identity. The sketchy, atmospheric background invites the viewer to consider potential contexts the figure might inhabit. Enigmatic subjects such as this one encourage a complex understanding of Blackness through the use of figurative representation.