KEY POINTS:
Auckland photographer Edith Amituanai, 27, is the inaugural recipient of a new award set up in a partnership between photographer Marti Friedlander, her husband, Gerrad Friedlander, and the Arts Foundation of NZ. The $25,000 Marti Friedlander Photographic Award, which will be presented every two years, was announced at a ceremony at the Auckland Art Gallery last night.
Amituanai's most recent exhibition, French Connection, at the Anna Miles Gallery, was profiled in the Herald's arts pages in May. Her extended family, sports stars and her community are her primary subjects.
"I have chosen Edith as the inaugural recipient as I believe she has an exceptional talent," says Marti Friedlander. "I particularly like the way her photographic essays portray people and places that reveal New Zealanders and all their diversity."
