The two-disc compilation spanned Hitomi's eight-year career at that point; viewing it as the beginning of a fresh start, she devised a release "atypical" of the traditional greatest hits format.

[1] Hitomi subsequently began working with Zentaro Watanabe and Dai Nagano; her next album Thermo Plastic (1999), matched the prior success she attained under Komuro, which "[laid] to rest fears that she would struggle without her onetime mentor.

[3] In an interview with CD Data magazine, Hitomi explained that H (1999) felt like she was "looking back on the past," whereas Self Portrait is deemed as a "halfway stage" towards "an ideal I want to reach," further marking the release as "a declaration that I will continue 'sketching' from this point on, too.

"Hitomi had a desire to introduce fans of "Samurai Drive" and "Love 2000" to songs like "There Is..." and "Taion" (体温, "Body Temperature"), which she considered to be "a selection that make up a key point in [my] past".

[6][7] The singles "Maria" and "Kimi no Tonari" are rearrangements found on their parent albums, with the latter being a first press bonus track originally.

In addition, the second disc features a live recording of "Flow" performed at the Nippon Budokan, and new song "Vibes".

The album artwork was photographed by longtime collaborator Hidekazu Maiyama in Sicily, Italy; a photo book chronicling the ten-day shoot was published two months later with the same cover.

[5] The concert DVD Hitomi Live Tour 2002 Huma-Rhythm, whose release coincided with the Self Portrait compilation, utilizes a similar photograph.

The compilation was further supported by a two-day concert at the Yoyogi National Stadium; entitled Hitomi Count Down Live 2002 Self Portrait, it was held on December 30 and 31, 2002, in the venue's second gymnasium.

All music on disc two composed by Tetsuya Komuro except where notedNotes According to SoundScan Japan, Self Portrait debuted at number one and moved 275,440 copies in its first week.

[15] Self Portrait debuted and peaked at number seven on the Japan Top Albums chart according to the October 5, 2002, edition of Billboard magazine.