Ben Apfelbaum

PRO HART GALLERY @ BROKEN HILL

Broken Hill gives the impression that it is a hard hat tough mining town as well as being in a brief landscape perfect for Mad Max films (in fact the latest Mad Max film is being shot in Hay). 

BHP is short for the Broken Hill Pty Ltd Company has left Broken Hill and only one small mine is being excavated by a French company. 

What has taken its place is a sophisticated cafe culture and a lively arts scene. 

Perhaps the most famous Broken Hill artist is Pro Hart. One of his murals is on the side of the local ABC studios.

Pro Hart was extremely disappointed that none of the major art institutions took his work seriously. 

As an upward two fingered salute, he has four Rolls Royce cars bought with the proceeds of his sales at the entrance to his Museum. Surrounding an atrium there are three levels of his paintings as well as a movie room playing, on rotate, a Pro Hart documentary.

In addition, there is a recreation of his studio and work  materials as well as a giant mural covering three walls depicting Australian history throughout the ages.

The Pro Hart Gallery is located at 108 Wyman Street Broken Hill.

www.prohart.com.au

All photos 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.