Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin When Chelsea Manning began transgender hormone therapy while incarcerated in a military prison, Paper Magazine sought an interview and a portrait. The interview was granted, but photography was forbidden by the Pentagon. As an alternative, Manning provided some cheek swabs and hair clippings, from which the artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg made an image using forensic DNA phenotyping. Dewey-Hagborg was keenly aware of the limitations: Used by police to predict the appearance of suspects based on genetics, the technique was extremely popular but notoriously unreliable, carrying the risk of false incrimination. To subvert this punitive function, Dewey-Hagborg enlisted DNA phenotyping as a means of liberation, providing Manning with a way to be seen even while hidden behind prison walls. The subversion of forensic and bureaucratic stereotyping was augmented by giving Manning’s visage two different forms: one gender-neutral and the … [Read more...] about Creating Portraits Using DNA Forensics, An Artist Turns Police Into The Suspects