Julie Public, 2016-2021. Doughnuts

Julie Public, 2016-2021 is a group of 100 mini Instax photographs from Amituanai’s Day One series, taken between 2016 and 2021. Since 2016, Amituanai has been taking instant photographs on an Instax camera, recording moments and people in her personal life and work. These images have been described as “business cards”: small gestures, often gifted to her subjects, which introduce Amituanai and her practice to a community, allowing them to participate in her process and establishing an understanding of photography as a social exchange. Amituanai’s practice has steadily moved from familial, domestic settings out into a broad range of community spaces. Her photographs, although they employ a documentary aesthetic, are often carefully staged, or taken within a set of strict parameters. At the core of her work is an ongoing diaristic intent which Julie Public demonstrates, where both subject and artist are active participants in a process of collaboration. Moving between scenes as varied as art events, school workshops, family gatherings and political protests, Julie Public creates a wide network of relationships which is entirely Amitunai’s own, anchored by her personal, professional and political lives.