Chelsea Manning Publishes First Post-Prison Portrait: "Hello World"

Chelsea Manning has posted a glowing new portrait.

The transgender whistleblower posted the photograph to Instagram a day after her release from military prison.

"Okay, so here I am everyone!! . . #HelloWorld," she wrote in the caption.

Okay, so here I am everyone!! . . #HelloWorld

A post shared by Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea87) on May 18, 2017 at 9:55am PDT

Manning was released Wednesday from a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence for leaking classified documents. In one of his last acts in office, President Obama commuted most of her remaining sentence.

"The day has finally arrived. I am looking forward to so much!" said a statement released by Manning through her legal team. "Whatever is ahead of me is far more important than the past. I'm figuring things out right now -- which is exciting, awkward, fun, and all new for me."

For security and privacy reasons, Manning held no press conferences or other public events. Manning had been imprisoned since 2010, when, then an Army private, she was arrested for sharing classified documents with WikiLeaks. She was convicted on 20 charges, including violations of the federal Espionage Act, in 2013; she is appealing her conviction. During her incarceration, she came out as a transgender woman.