The National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. is showing an exhibition of contemporary U.S. Latino artists who question our identities through photography, collage, and paintings. The exhibition is called "Staging the Self" and is on display until April 2015.
One of the artists, Maria Martinez-Canas, looks at how environment shapes who we are. This is a topic close to me as I grew up in Prague, Czech Republic, but have lived in the US for the past 12 years, and understand the crucial importance of our environment on our identity and values. Martinez-Canas focuses on her family, in particular, her father. In layering a photo of herself and her father and playing with transparency, we see the intricate relationship between family members - not only through physical resemblance but also through beliefs and attitudes.

Archival pigment print on canvas, mounted on aluminum, 2008–9
Cricket Taplin Collection
© María Martínez-Cañas

C-Print, 2010
Courtesy of the artist
© Rachelle Mozman