Better to Give: The Greg Semu Archive

Too many people take photographs. They take and they don't give back. I'm just not comfortable with that. For me it is better to give than to receive.

The theme that runs strongly through my work is cultural displacement, colonial impact on indigenous cultures, particularly Pacific Islands', and religious Christian iconography's mutation of tribal and so-called primitive icons.

Greg Semu

Greg Semu (born 1971) is a New Zealand Samoan photographer who grew up in Auckland but has lived in London, New York and Paris and is now based in Sydney.

Comfortable in both the commercial and art world, Semu's work includes fashion magazine spreads and music videos. His art has been recognised recently by the awarding of residencies at the Tjibaou Cultural Centre and the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, and a place as a finalist in Singapore's Signature Art Prize.

Representative items have been selected for this display from the archive which Semu recently deposited with the E H McCormick Research Library on long-term loan. It is currently being accessioned, described and re-housed.

A new work by Greg Semu is on display in the exhibition Home AKL at Auckland Art Gallery from 7 July.