Edith Amituanai

Edith Amituanai was born in Christchurch in 1980 and brought up in Te Atatu. Her photography is an ongoing exploration of the concepts of home, community and identity that is informed by her Samoan heritage and upbringing in Auckland.

Since graduating from Unitec with a Bachelor of Design (Photography) in 2005, Amituanai has achieved much success and public recognition. She was among the new generation of artists to feature in the book Contemporary New Zealand Photographers (2005) and in 2007 was named the inaugural winner of the Marti Friedlander Photography Award. In 2008 her exhibition ‘Dejeuner’ at the Anna Miles Gallery was shortlisted for the Walters Prize. She completed her MFA at Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland in 2009.

Extended family and immediate community are often the starting point for Amituanai’s works, examining connections between generations and cultures. While fitting broadly into contemporary documentary practice, she is most drawn to portraiture, though her work has included interiors and the occasional landscape.