The portrait doesn't depict any one person, it represents the diversity of the American people through a composite portrait created by photographing numerous young men of different ethnic backgrounds at the National Mall. The title, Out of Many, One, is translated from the Latin E pluribus unum, a phrase on the Seal of the United States, which was central in conveying unity in the newly formed United States. Rodríguez-Gerada says, "Diversity is the backbone of the nation, and this piece embraces that fact. I decided to create the face of a young adult male because I want to talk about the reality of this demographic group in the U.S. Nothing affects us more than the arbitrary nature of identity. We are judged immediately by preconceptions about how we look and where we come from. For minorities, the reality is still harsh."
