Ben Apfelbaum

THE GLOBAL TABLE CATERS TO ALL TASTES

I live in an area close to where the Global Table is held annually in May.

This is the first time in its 14 year history that I have attended it albeit with insufficient time.

Waverley Council believes that music and food bring together diverse groups of people thereby fostering harmony and tolerance.

Situated under a very large marquee, the Global Table itself a 35 metre long table lined by stalls from many countries around the world..

Forming almost a ‘T’ intersection to the Table is a performance stage where people performing dancing or music express their ethnic culture all in clear view of the contented diners and other passers by in the Bondi Junction mall.

In the time that I was there  I saw an exhibition of Middle Eastern bellydancing as well as  a performance by an Indonesian song and dance troupe. I would have liked to linger longer but I had errands to do in a limited time.

As a result of what I witnessed I will make sure that this is not my last Global Table visit.

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.