Library – Interviews
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Woman Crush Wednesday: Polixeni Papapetrou
Yanika Anukulpun, Musée Magazine, March 2, 2018
Actually, the cue was more than an accident. My family and I happened to be in Tokyo, looking at the lovely Ueno market when we saw some rubber masks of a horse. Our children immediately identified the masks as suitable for photography. I bought one but soon regretted that I hadn’t bought two, just in case some future photograph might warrant a pair of horses. My family encouraged me to go back through the dense market stalls in search of the other mask. At this stage, I had no idea where or how I might use the masks. -
Identifying Elvis (and a host of others): the work of Polixeni Papapetrou
Honouring Life, October 2, 2017
Polixeni Papapetrou is a Melbourne-based photographic artist who has various connections to Melbourne General Cemetery. Papapetrou’s talent weaves a body of work that ranges from intimate black and white portraiture, to dramatic outdoor scenes and fantastical imaginary sets of riotous colours. I was privileged to gain an insight into Papapetrou’s creative world, and learn that regardless of subject matter, identity remains key in every piece. Here she spends time discussing her passion for identity, why Melbourne General Cemetery has such a special significance, and how she captured a portrait of former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser in just the right light, to create just the right moment. -
Polixeni Papapetrou Believes in the Power of Imagination
Delphi, March 2, 2017
As the result of my childhood experience, it was natural to go down the path of exploring issues of identity and otherness in my work. At the start I was photographing homeless people, drag queens, Elvis fans, Marilyn Monroe impersonators and body builders. I was drawn to photographing people who lived on the edge of the conventional mainstream or who deviated from the mainstream archetype. I was interested in ‘otherness’. Despite the diversity in the groups that I photographed what they all had in common was that they were performing their identity, that identity is something that is fluid, malleable and can be constructed. While the representation of identity has been a consistent theme in my work, in the past 15 years I have been exploring portrayals of childhood identity. But more than this I have tried to understand what it means to be human. -
Déesse grecque d’Australie : entretien avec Polixeni Papapetrou
Jean Paul Gavard Perret, Lelitteraire, 21 July 2016
Il y a une dizaine d’années, Polixeni Papapetrou a été victime d’une stupide controverse dans son pays. Le prétexte en était qu’elle photographiait sa fille (à l’époque âgée de six ans) nue. C’était ne rien comprendre à ce que Polixeni Papapetrou explore. Principalement, le thème de la transformation de l’enfance à l’adolescence, de l’âge adulte à la vieillesse. -
Empty Kingdom
Empty Kingdom, USA, December 2015
I was born in Melbourne, Australia, to Greek immigrants. I have lived in Melbourne all my life. I love to visit places all over the world and admire them greatly, but I work best in Melbourne. I have trouble imagining living anywhere else, as the city and the rural character surrounding Melbourne inspire me so much. -
Ladies & Gents
Pantelis Vitaliotis, Ladies & Gents, Greece, interview published 9 September 2013
Growing up in Melbourne in the 1960s as a child of Greek immigrant parents, I felt under pressure to succeed at school and then study at university. As I was not talented at drawing and felt hopeless during art classes as school, I focused on other academic subjects. After leaving school, I studied law at Melbourne University. I began my professional working life as a lawyer in 1985 and continued to practice as a lawyer until 2000.