This self-portrait depicts the artist John Keane wearing Nuclear, Biological and Chemical warfare (NBC) clothing and travelling in the rear of an army vehicle, during a gas alert in the Gulf War (1990–1991). During the conflict there was a constant fear that Saddam Hussein would use his stockpile of chemical weapons against coalition troops. Although this did not occur there were many false alarms. The wearing of NBC suits in hot desert conditions is especially uncomfortable.

The incident depicted occurred during a press visit to a field hospital where, because of an Iraqi missile attack on a nearby town, the visitors were ordered to put on their NBC suits. Just over a decade later British troops were back in the Gulf, taking part in a coalition invasion of Iraq in 2003, undertaken to combat the perceived threat from Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs).