Ben Apfelbaum

DUTCH KING AND QUEEN VISIT SYDNEY

Sydney loves to host royalty and foreign dignitaries. On Thursday 3rd November King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands enjoyed a sparkling day packed with events for them to attend.

In the morning the Dutch Royal couple had a private business meeting with the Netherlands  Foreign Investment Agency that aims to assist companies that want to invest in the Netherlands.

After paying a courtesy call on the State Governor David Hurley and his wife Linda at Government House the King and Queen then paid a visit to the University of Sydney. There the Royal couple was welcomed by University Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson and met with Australian students who have been studying in the Netherlands and Dutch students currently studying in Australia.

They presided over the launch of the New Holland Scholarship Australia, a program that finances Australian students who wish to study in the Netherlands for a short period.

Then  the Royal couple took a ferry  called Alexander to Cockatoo Island where they visited the Farm To Fork summit, an international convention focused on future innovation in the Food and Agriculture Industries.

Cockatoo Island’s Industrial Halls were transformed into food and produce showcases for the occasion. A highlight was when the Royal couple had a meeting with Elena Duggan, the winner of  2016 Master Chef. Thereafter the King addressed the Convention indicating that food production was of special interest to him.

Later the Dutch Royal couple met with fellow countrymen living in Sydney at Luna Park.

Featured photo- The King and Queen of the Netherlands  enjoying Sydney’s harbour with the backdrop of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and one of the sails of the Sydney Opera House. Photos by Ben Apfelbaum (c).

Published by 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.