Ben Apfelbaum

RED CARPET : BAZ LUHRMANN’S ELVIS

Ada Nicodemou
Tsehay Hawkins & Anthony Field
Api Robin & Celeste Barber
Baz Luhrmann, Olivia DeJonge, Austin Butler
Gemma Ward
Hamish Michael & Kate Mulvany
Jack Steele, Matt Ford – The Inspired Unemployed
Josh McConville
Marc Freeman & Camilla Freeman Topper
Marcia Hines
Millie Ford
Richard Roxburgh & Helen Thomson
Tom Hanks
Xavier Samuel

In one of the largest premieres since pre-pandemic days, Market Street  was lined with hundreds of fans hoping to grab a glimpse of the stars walking the Red Carpet at the State Theatre for the Sydney premiere of ELVIS.

And yes, Elvis was in the building, in the form of Austin Butler, so was Priscilla Presley,  played by Olivia DeJonge and of-course the biggest star of them all, Tom Hanks, who play Elvis’ manager Colonel Tom Parker. Of-course Elvis’ parents were there who were played by Richard Roxburgh and Helen Thomson.

Baz Luhrmann who directed the movie and was with the stars at the Australian premiere on the Gold Coast was unable to attend the opening of his musical Moulin Rouge.

Perhaps of all the people, Luhrmann seemed to be enjoying himself the most on the Red Carpet playfully interacting with his stars. And just like that Elvis had left the building. ‘Thank you verre murch’.

Baz Luhrmann’s ELVIS  will be released nationally on June 23, 2022,

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.