Polixeni Papapetrou (21 November 1960 – 11 April 2018) was an Australian photographer noted for her themed photo series about people's identities.

Photo series she has made include Elvis Presley fans, Marilyn Monroe impersonators, drag queens, wrestlers and bodybuilders and the recreation of photographs by Lewis Carroll, using her daughter as a model.

Addressing issues of identity and representation, Papapetrou used photography, scenic backdrops, landscapes, costumes, and masks in her work.

[7] In the first body of work made with her then four-year daughter (Phantomwise in 2002),[8] Olympia wore a series of masks that concealed her face from above the nose, but allowed her mouth and ears to be revealed.

[9] Phantomwise has been exhibited as Olympia Masked Ballarat Fine Art Gallery (2002), Photographica Australis , Sala De Exposiciones Del Canal De Isabel II, Madrid, Spain (2002),[10] National Gallery of Thailand, Bangkok (2003) and Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2003).

Papapetrou's series Dreamchild (2003) was based on the 19th century photographs of Charles Dodgson, more commonly known as Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Dreamchild was exhibited at Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria (2003) Stills Gallery, Sydney (2004), Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne (2004), Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney (2005) and 'Le Mois de la Photo’, 9th Montreal Photography Biennale, Montréal (2005).

[3] The series Haunted Country, (2006) was inspired by nineteenth century real and fictional accounts of children who went missing in the Australian bush.

Papapetrou went to the sites of the most notorious disappearances where she staged and photographed scenes proposing what the physical and psychological circumstances may have been like for these lost and wandering children.

[3] Games of Consequence (2008) is based on Papapetrou's childhood memories of play, incidents that happened to her and feelings that she experienced growing up.

By exploring her memories of play that occurred in places beyond the home, she wanted to reflect on the freedom that children of her generation enjoyed in these arcane spaces.

The disguises, masks and outfits worn by the characters in these pictures change young bodies into old, children into animals or into anthropomorphic figures.

Using painted scenic backdrops, a practice she returns to after 10 years, masks, costumes and child actors, she weighs up the persistence of some historical conditions and the disappearance of others.

[21] [22] She wrote that “By reflecting on the changing body of young people as they shed one skin for another, we are embedded in the cycles of life.

[37] Papapetrou came under fire from the then Australian Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd who said that he "couldn't stand this sort of stuff", referring to the photograph of the naked Olympia.