Edith Amituanai

Edith Amituanai’s photography is informed by her Samoan heritage and upbringing in Auckland. Since graduating from Unitec with a Bachelor of Design (Photography) in 2005, Edith has achieved much success and public recognition. Announced as the inaugural winner of the Marti Friedlander Photography Award at the end of 2007, Edith was also the youngest artist to feature in Contemporary New Zealand Photographers, a major survey of art photography published in 2005.

Edith’s process of selecting and constructing images moves beyond a snapshot or private view to a study of custom, place, and identity within a broader cultural context. Paying close attention to the interior and exterior views that frame her subjects, Edith’s portraits are intrinsically linked with their surroundings. Many of her works focus on special occasions. Her camera becomes a tool to settle her curiosity by capturing moments which tell not only about celebrations but about the relationships, engagements, and emotions that transpire during special occasions, such as Mrs Amituanai (Anna Miles Gallery in 2005). While others communicate the tensions that exist within family relationships, between older and younger generations, traditional customs, religion, and the roles we play within these various contexts.

The House of Tiatia

Family and friends are often the first port of call in her image-making process. Her images often act as a bridge; whether capturing familial connections between New Zealand, Samoa, Europe, and Alaska or creating an inter-generational bridge as seen in the images of her daughter during a trip to Samoa. Edith’s work is about relationships and place. Stories of migration are prominent in Edith’s photographs, the migration of her family as seen in the ‘Dejeuner’ series. After receiving a Creative New Zealand grant in 2006, Edith travelled to Europe to produce a body of work based on professional Samoan rugby players working in Italy and France. The ‘Dejeuner’ series explores the temporary migration of her relatives living and working abroad. Edith produced portraits of the young sportsmen out on the rugby field and documented their homes back in Auckland. The interiors featured in The House of Manu and The House of Tiatia (2007) brim with personal details such as mats, furnishings, adorned shelves and a suite of photographs. The House of Tiatia evokes a sense of memorial or longing for an absent son and a celebration of his achievements. Dejeuner was exhibited at Anna Miles Gallery from May-June 2007 and shortlisted for the 2008 Walters Prize.

The essence of longing emanates in her recent series North to the Future and Millennial which further explore the importance of place. The photographs of homes in New Zealand and Samoa are a means of bridging generations of Samoans. Sitting rooms in Samoa adorned with colourful fabrics over sofas, chairs, and windows are not simply homes but nostalgic scenes that speak across generations of Samoans in the Islands and the diaspora.

Edith has participated in a number of high profile group exhibitions including Le Folauga (2007), Auckland Museum and Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan; Samoa Contemporary, Pataka, Porirua (2008) and The Sarjeant Gallery (2008); and Dateline: Contemporary Art from the Pacific, NBK, Berlin, Germany (2007-2008). Edith is studying towards her Masters of Fine Art at the Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland. She is represented by Anna Miles Gallery. www.edithamituanai.com