Ben Apfelbaum

MORAN CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE 2019

Since its inception the Moran Contemporary Prize has been celebrating the work of local photographers both adult and student as they capture the experience of living in Australia. With an eye to the future the Moran School Photographic Workshop hosted 1800 school students from Years 3 to 12 with free tuition.

This year’s Prize had senior judges Cheryl Newman, Jon Jones and Stephen Dupont who along with student judges had to sift through over 3,000 entries to narrow them down to 30 adult finalists which were hung in Juniper Hall’s whilst the student photographer finalists were displayed on large panels for the entries comprising years 7 to 8, years 9 to 10, and years 11 to 12. Their photos were also displayed as a slideshow on a tv screen.

Host of the evening’s proceedings senior judge Cheryl Norman, in the presence of Moran Health Group Managing Director Peter Moran, announced that Tamara Dean had won the 2019 Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize for her underwater photograph Endangered. In her acceptance speech Tamara was especially grateful as she had been a finalist on several occasions but had never won.mpo

Cheryl Newman said, “Tamara Dean’s winning image is a personal response to the politics of climate change…addressing the fragility of our planet and vulnerability of its inhabitants.”

Tamara Dean amplified these comments by stating that the photo was taken on Heron Island which unlike a lot of the Great Barrier Reef, was teeming with life. Tamara went further on to say,  “Biologists predict that if we continue carrying on the way we are then by the end of this century 50% of species living today will face extinction…We are mammals in a sensitive eco system vulnerable to the same forces of climate change as every other living creature.”

The student judging panel comprised Jim Filmer, Nicole Jackson, Sally Mayman and Louise Whelan.

Louise Whelan announced the winners of the student prizes in their various categories:  Years 7 to 8 winner Jedson Buhlmann from the Hunter School of Performing Arts, NSW for Waiting for Sunrise. The Prize was $2000 each to the student and to the school.

Years 9 to 10 winner was Mathias Decker from Edmund Rice College NSW for Fish People. The Prize was $3000 each for the winner and their school. Years 11 to 12 winner was Anousha Cavalier from St Philips College, NT for Alice Springs Dance Floor.  The Prize was $5000 both to the student and the school.

The Moran Contemporary Photography Prize exhibition featuring the work of all the finalists and prize winners will be displayed at Juniper Hall, 250 Oxford Street, Paddington until Sunday 2nd June, 2019.  Please note that the exhibition is open from Thursdays to Sundays between 10am and 4pm.

If you wish to view the 2019 finalists online please go to https://www.moranprizes.com.au/gallery/photographic

Featured image- Tamara Dean with her award winning entry. Pic 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.