Ben Apfelbaum

OFF BROADWAY ARTS PRECINCT FOR GEHRIG LANE ANNANDALE

All images by Ben Apfelbaum (c).

Sydney Fringe threw its first street party in the inner East but recently the inner West had its turn at street partying in tiny Gehrig Lane in Annandale. Thanking the cooperation of the inner West Council, John Wardle and Fringe Festival Director Kerry Glascock formally launched the creativity centre in this precinct.

In Gehrig Lane eateries lined one side with food by Chrissie’s Cuts with Sydney’s newest bar Wayward’s Brewery. Part of the Brewery’s site has been converted to an art gallery that serves both as the Off Broadway Festival hub and is also currently hosting the Stencil Art Prize.

imgl2938The $3,000 Prize attracted entries from around the world. As part of the launch the winner was announced – Tinku from Guatemala for the Stencil called Tributo. Runner up was Mos Cardenas also from Guatemala for the work  Untitled.

Music was provided by the soft rock group Green Mohair Suits. The launch was curated by Elana Stone and it is hoped that new creative tenants, abandoned shopfronts, the activation of pop-up and temporary spaces will once again  bring the Parramatta Road, Pyrmont Bridge Road, Annandale area back to cultural and creative life.

The Sydney Fringe Festival is running at different venues across Sydney until 30th September.

http://www.sydneyfringe.com

 

 

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.