Artist statement

The Silence That Connects
Traces in StillnessIn a world saturated with noise and overexposure, I wish these photographs to act almost as a form of resistance.
Here, silence is not an absence — it is presence.As if we are not seeing the faces, but listening to them; entering their time, their bodily breath, their material depth.I do not seek the drama of the gaze, nor do I stage the moment of capture — the “event.”
On the contrary, I aim to grasp an in-between moment: where the face is almost absorbed into its surroundings, on an inward journey with no fixed destination, yet filled with meaning.The natural background — used more as texture than as setting — is not decorative.
My intention was for it to act as a pause for the gaze: embracing the figure without containing it, without overpowering it.These are not portraits in the traditional sense.
They are impressions of closeness — not necessarily between people, but between the earthly and the immaterial.These images emerged from an existential meditation on empathy — an empathy that does not provide answers, but opens questions:
Where do I belong?
Is there hope for a peaceful future?
For what truly transforms does not begin outside of us — it rises from within.For me, peace begins in silence: in that quiet space where eyes meet without seeking to interpret or to judge.Through portraits that merge with natural textures, I attempt to explore coexistence — not as uniformity, but as an embrace of difference without fear.I deliberately chose to depict only female faces of varying ages, hoping each would carry its own silence — and all together, form a shared presence where tenderness prevails over division.The peace I hope to suggest through these photographs is not expressed as an ideological slogan.
It is a subtle gesture — a possibility that exists, but needs stillness in order to be recognized.©Antonis Giakoumakis