Ben Apfelbaum

MARDI GRAS FAIR DAY 2020

The first few months of the early part of the year are in Sydney, packed with huge events for all the public to enjoy. These events include the Sydney Festival, the Chinese Lunar New Year and currently the Gay Mardi Gras which is in full swing with a spate of shows, plays and exhibitions.

The midpoint of the Festival is the Mardi Gras Fair Day  which has been held for many years in its traditional venue, Victoria Park, Broadway. The day was full of vibrancy, colour and goodwill. The police that were present had no work to do but to pose for photos with Festival  visitors.

Spectacularly made up drag queens strolled through the park and also delighted in being photographed.

There were dog shows with categories such as fastest dog, best dressed dog, and the dog that looks most like its owner.

There were swimsuit parades, martial art displays, a temporary sculpture striking a ‘Vogue’ position together with a plethora of food stalls catering for all tastes.

People of all ages packed the park and strolled amidst other stalls spruiking queer wares and advocating such themes as gay rights, mental health services and safe sex, to name but a few, under rainbow coloured tents.

There were two main sound stages,  one was a disco party area entered through rainbow coloured arches, curated by DJs.

The other was also a huge stage which showcased some of the artists who were appearing at various venues throughout Sydney.

The nearby Seymour Centre has become the Festival hub where many performances are being staged.

The climax of the Festival will of-course be the Mardi Gras Parade on Saturday 29th February which promises to be bigger and better than ever and yet again, like the Fair, an outrageous fun night for all ages.

All pics by Ben Apfelbaum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.