Broken Beauty

25th Jul 07
Broken Beauty Look

WHAT
BROKEN BEAUTY - BENJAMIN ONG

WHERE
BLENDER GALLERY
16 ELIZABETH STREET, PADDINGTON

WHEN
UNTIL AUGUST 7

HOW MUCH

FREE

CONTACT

INFO@BLENDER.COM.AU

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Ugly is beautiful. You know it. I know it. Betty knows it. And, as it turns out, a local photographer called Ben Ong knows it too.

Something of a gloom-whore, Ben spent a large part of 2006 loitering amongst a bunch of dilapidated buildings through the city where he set about kicking stuff, photographing his mates and generally soaking up the atmosphere of spectacular waste.

The resulting black and white images included in BROKEN BEAUTY depict a magical city. A spacious, languid place alive with barbed wire, shattered glass, crumbled bricks, blistered paint and weeds blossoming through cracks in the concrete. Sporadically a lone figure, spray can in hand, features amongst the rubble but like a visitor to a grand cathedral, their isolated presence merely highlights the magnificent desolation.

For fellow sorrow-sluts, the exhibition feels a little like someone has looked inside your brain and taken photos of your silent, wasteland dreams. Weird.

By Jade Warne

Medium: Photography

Drink: Long neck in a paper bag

Keywords: Photography, Paddington, Blender Gallery

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