Computer background or wallpaper images, readily available or chosen by users, have become a commonplace trait of computer using environment by the 2000s. They remain however practically unstudied. This article sketches possible avenues for their study, discussing their theoretical linkage and presenting results of a small inquiry. Background images chosen by user mostly appear to originate from own digital photographs or from the Web, often travelling from one media context to another. They are repeatedly seen by the user but seldom intently looked at, usually cluttered by icons and other desktop elements. However, they serve to create an illusory space behind the desktop and to imply an off-frame space. They are often family or travel photos, conventional but specifically meaningful for the user, referring to what is absent, looked at in a particular way and building an idealised self-image. They punctuate work and provide a sense of control over the technologically dictated workspace. Yet they are negligently discarded and replaced by many users. Other aspects of background images are enabling new kind of identity work and aesthetic self-expression.