Ben Apfelbaum

RED CARPET : THE ARTFUL DODGER

Miranda Tapsell
Tim Minchin
Andrea Demetriades
Corrie Chen (dir) & Aljin Abella
Damien Garvey

Hal Cumpston
Huw Higginson
Jessica de Gouw
Justin Smith
Kim Gyngell
Lucy -Rose Leonard
Nicholas Burton
Susie Porter

The Red Carpet for this show was unusual in that it was held in a Bar where a number of the actors wore period costumes from the Dickens era.

THE ARTFUL DODGER was one of the characters in Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist.

Set in 1850’s Australia in the colony of Port Victory Jack Dawkins. played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster, also known as the Artful Dodger, is now a surgeon who still has a penchant for crime. When Dodgers past returns with the arrival of Fagin, played by John Thewlis, (who came from the UK to walk the Red Carpet), the Dodger is lured back in to a world of crime. From heists to life and death surgeries to the harsh realities of the criminal world, mingling with the middle class and gentry, this is a tale of reinvention, betrayal, redemption and love with a twist.

THE ARTFUL DODGER was co-directed by Corrie Chen and Gracie Otto and is currently playing on Disney+

Featured image David Thewlis. Text and 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.