Pacific Focus - Documentary Photography

Stopover is the culmination of Bruce Connew’s four years photographing a community of Indian-Fijian sugar cane cutters. Moving beyond the simple documentation of a rural community Connew’s story lies instead in the process of migration as social and political circumstance provide impetus for an ongoing diaspora. ‘Stopover – A Story of Migration’ is available in book form published by VUP and available in August. The series presented here is taken from the exhibition ‘Stopover’ which opens at Pataka Museum, Porirua, NZ on August 18, 2007.        

South Auckland has established itself as the locus of New Zealand’s Pacific Island communities. Successive waves of migrants have had a growing influence on New Zealand culture and have in turn adapted to a new life outside of the islands.

The exhibition ‘Niu Life’ organised by the Mangere Arts as an inclusive project called on members of these Pacific communities to contribute personal photographs describing everyday life, family events, and a growing awareness of Pacific Island identities.