Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this.

I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years.

During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar.

My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke.

I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY-DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher.

Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY.

My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there.

I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin.

Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.

709 posts by Ben Apfelbaum

red carpet : opera australia’s ‘west side story’

The heavy rain could not dampen the anticipation the first night audience felt with the Handa sponsored West Side Story on Sydney harbour. Held at the first Fleet steps at Mrs Macquaries Chair.

Celebrities, stars and politicians mingled happily together,

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spamalot : comic mayhem @ the hayes

SPAMALOT ‘lovingly ripped off’ from the 1975 film  Monty Python and the Holy Grail opened on Broadway in 2005, ran for 1,575 shows and grossed $175, 000,000 and winning 3 Tony awards. Strangely enough when the production came to Australia

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the miser : opening night celebrations

This year’s Bell Shakespeare Company season began with the ribald farce THE MISER marking its 29th year. At the opening night after party Gill Perkins, Executive Director of Bell Shakespeare, outlined an ambitious program for this year and the next.

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rehearsals underway for saturday night fever

1977  was a huge break-out year for John Travolta with the monster hits Grease and Saturday Night Fever  bringing enormous financial success both at the box office and from the purchases s of the soundtracks.

I confess that …

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poets picnic 2019 – 30 years young

Attracting  politicians, poets and high school students, the Poets Picnic was held at the beautiful Blackburn Gardens adjacent to the Woollahra Council chambers and the former Woollahra Library.  Both the crowd and the poets were in a celebratory mood as …

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chinese lunar new year of the pig 2019

The Pig is the twelfth month of the Chinese Zodiac. Some say that Chinese Muslims put it last so that after reciting the previous eleven months, they did not have to recite the name of the Pig  because it is

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mardi gras fair day

Fair Day returned to Victoria Park  in Broadway on Sunday 17th February and like last year it was bathed in glorious sunshine. Last year’s crowd was estimated by the organisers at 80,000 people and there were at least that many

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tropfest 2019 : the wrap

Tropfest has suffered some very heavy blows both financial and physical.

Tropfest was nearly dealt a fatal blow due to financial mismanagement but not at the hands of founding director John Polson. CGU Insurance  and Parramatta Council came to Tropfest’s …

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the combination redemption

The Hoyts Entertainment cinemas at the Entertainment Quarter hosted the world premiere of THE COMBINATION REDEMPTION.

I felt like I was attending a Lebanese wedding as cast, crew and community members glammed up for this event. It has been a …

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