Ben Apfelbaum

AQUAMAN SWIMS INTO SYDNEY

When I was a young child I used to read Aquaman comics. At that time he was drawn with short  bleached blonde hair, a green skivvy, and yellow pants.  Of all the super heroes in the DC universe Jason Momoa looks totally different to the original comic strip.

Momoa is 193 centimetres tall, muscle bound with dreadlocks. His father is of native Hawaiian descent while his mother is of German ancestry- hence his piercing blue eyes, When Momoa walked the blue carpet recently to say that he made  an enormous impact due to his size and physicality is an understatement.

In fact, unusual for a major star Momoa walked three Red Carpets including the Gold Coast (where the film was made), Melbourne and here in Sydney. Momoa has a strong affection for Australia having rock climbed his way  through our fair land and is a keen supporter of the Port Adelaide Aussie Rules club.

Momoa is also a fan of the Byron Bay Blues Festival where I first photographed him  and his co-star Patrick Wilson.

AQUAMAN, had its first stand-alone release, on Boxing Day topped the Box Office raking in $3, 795.000. Wherever it was released prior to premiering in Australia it did enormous box office, particularly in China.

To further strengthen its Australian ties it was directed by James Wan and stars Nicole Kidman as Aquaman’s mother.

The film has been given a major release – some 635 screens- in 2D, 3D and IMAX by Roadshow Films in Australia.

All pics 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.