Art All #73 | A Conversation with Edith Sagapolu

Edith's photographs cross between genres. They can be a mixture of documenting an existing state, for example a room, in all its detail, and/or constructed pieces, where the subject is dressed and directed to re-enact a moment or mood. The resulting images capture contemporary moments that speak strongly to what Edith considers to be her primary audience - her own family, the Samoan community and the young people within that community. I asked her to tell me about the work 'Ioka', an image of a young Samoan girl carrying a cup of tea from the kitchen. 

"Ioka is sixteen now" Edith said, "the youngest of her family. I remember being that age - I'm the only girl in my family and as the youngest, you are expected to look after people. I was always bringing cups of tea to visitors." The adolescent Edith found herself questioning traditional roles. Edith uses the term fa'ali'i, roughly translated as a kind of inward sulk. Ioka, dressed as if she were ready to serve guests at home and bring them a cup of tea, understands Edith's meaning exactly. The shared experience was there between them of that subtle inward sulk felt through not wanting to have to serve people, but not wanting it to show outwardly and get into trouble! 

How does Edith arrive at her final images? I wanted to know if there was some kind of narrative in her work. "I draw up a story board, sometimes I can do that in my head, and I refine the image down to what I want to say." Edith agreed that at the beginning she had worked in series, but that finally she had come to the position where she could embody what she wanted to say more powerfully in stand alone pieces. "My primary techniques of photography belong to the documentary and constructed genres. What's important to me is the formality of my images which constructive approaches allow me to do. It's this formality as well as strong compositions that I strive for." Edith has always been drawn to photography. She never felt a connection as much with painting as with the photographic medium. However, all art subjects were her main school enjoyment from an early age. "If I couldn't have done art, I would have left school earlier". And it was art that kept her there. 

Finishing secondary school, she first went into graphic design but realised quickly that it wasn't the path for her. She liked the work coming out of UNITEC in Auckland and enrolled. It was in her second year at UNITEC when a pivotal event redirected her to the subject matter that presently makes up her oeuvre, she gave birth to her daughter Shiloh, who is now three. "Having a baby made me photograph what was closer to home. The circumstances surrounding my pregnancy were difficult for my family to accept, that is, being young and unmarried. I wanted to talk about the issue of Samoan shame and also how the standards for the treatment of men and women in the Samoan community are different." Although her father was at first upset, the birth of her daughter soon changed that. "This kind of thing happening in 2002 is a lot different to it happening in the seventies". 

I asked Edith whether she thought the perception of shame, the idea that people will gossip and point their finger, was perhaps stronger than the reality. She agreed that it was possibly true. However, the issue of collective or community shame was a very real thing and another catalyst for her wanting to explore this subject when Ese Junior Falealii killed Marcus Doig and John Vaughan in the course of armed robberies of a pizza bar in Howick and an ASB bank in Mangere that same year. "The feeling we all had of shame when we found out that the killer was a Samoan, everyone saying 'Ohh, he's Samoan'... I really felt for his parents." 

I am from the other community involved in those tragic events of May 2002 and I wrestled with grief at hearing this other impetus for the work. Just hearing the names spoken aloud took me back with a blood rush to being woken up by my mother's tearful call to say my youngest cousin Marcus had been shot dead. It was poignant for me to hear how those events affected the Samoan community in Auckland as I live with it isolated in the cocoon of my family. 

Edith's new work, showing at Anna Miles Gallery from 4 November 2005, is called 'Mrs Amituanai'. "It's about me getting married and the role I will have with my new family". Edith gets married in August. Her fiance's father has sadly just passed away and his mother died some years ago. This is Ioka's family. It's been a tough few years for this sixteen year old, I think. Edith replies that the events have made her grow up quickly. The absence of parents means that Edith's fiance is now responsible for his siblings and Edith will move into their family home to help look after them. She is well aware of the enormous responsibility ahead of her. "I'll be the only Mrs Amituanai and it will be an honour for me." 

She has been looking at earlier examples of wedding photography and has been inspired by the austere images that were popular in her parents day. She will again be looking at family roles within the particular focus of weddings, having recently also been a bridesmaid. Ultimately, Edith Sagapolu's work is about relationships - people's relationships with each other. These relationships extend out to embrace her audience, "I like to see my family and young people looking at my work and totally getting it."

Emma Pratt