Your name 

Eirini Androulaki
Place of birth 

I was born in Cyprus but my family originally comes from Crete, Greece, where I also grew up.
Place where you live now 

Athens, Greece
3 words to describe you

Spontaneous, Curious, Persistent
Why do you take pictures?
Through photography I overcome the unease of solitude and question my limits and beliefs. It allows me to move freely between the visible and invisible, using it as an act of reframing reality and a way to explore deeper layers of shared meaning and experiences.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I find inspiration in experiencing art, reading books, flipping through photo books, exploring archival collections, conducting field and desk research, and drawing from myths, tradition and oral history. It can also come from exchanging with friends or strangers, examining paradoxes, or simply from staying still and quiet, allowing observation and ideas to surface organically.
Who are your influences?
Gregory Halpern, Taryn Simon, Max Pinckers, Vasantha Yogananthan, Abbas Kiarostami, among many others, have influenced my work and methodology.
What determines the subject matter you choose?
My work touches on personal, political, and existential subjects, all driven by a strong curiosity about how we can represent and share the complexity of human experience with others, and whether such representation can ever be complete.
What impact would you like your art to have?
The impact I value most ideally occurs during the process of creating, encountering people, sharing information, reflecting on collective and individual memory, and questioning dominant narratives. I also find joy in knowing that others are involved and engaged in the ongoing work.
What artwork do you never get bored with?
Alberto Giacometti's sculptures and Francesca Woodman’s autoportraits
Is there anything you want to add? 

Thank you!

Paradise
Project statement

Didn’t Mean to Keep You Waiting is an ongoing photographic project that explores the intersections of illness, isolation, and suicide through the story of Stylianos Balmetakis, a teacher who ended his life in 1901 after suffering from tuberculosis. Set between Athens and Folegandros, the work traces the lingering silence left behind by his suicide note, using archival research and visual abstraction to reflect on the deeper human condition when faced with mortality.

Drawing from the research of the Academia Romantica, which gathered 200 letters of suicides spanning two centuries, I discovered Balmetakis’ note during the COVID-19 pandemic—a time of heightened isolation and fear of spreading illness. This contemporary context allowed me to relate personally to his story, as we all experienced a collective responsibility to protect those around us while grappling with our own feelings of exclusion and grief.

Through photography, I delve into the paradox of communication through silence, using symbols, traces, and staged scenes to explore the broader moral and emotional conflicts surrounding illness and death. The project is not a reconstruction but rather an imaginative reflection on the educator’s mental state and the unresolved emotional weight he left behind. The work aims to create a space for contemplation around difficult subjects like suicide and mortality, questioning how we engage with the absurdity of existence while embracing both its beauty and brutality.

By merging historical evidence with surreal, metaphorical elements, I attempt to transcend linear storytelling and offer a narrative that is both deeply personal and reflective of universal human experiences.

@laforcedeschoses