Yuri Dojc

Photographer, photo illustrator

In 1968, when Russian tanks were rolling into Czechoslovakia, Yuri Dojc's status as "summer student" in London, England, was amended to "refugee." A year later, by chance walking by the Canadian embassy and with dreams of freedom and opportunity, Yuri applied for a visa, eventually landed in Toronto with $6 in his pocket.

Now, three decades later, Yuri is a major player on the photography scene, with a distinguished roster of clients in North America, including ad agencies and renowned designers. He is celebrated for his bold, dramatic commercial work, his whimsical American Dreams CD-ROM series and his sensitive black-and-white personal studies, a collection of which was published in the book Marble Woman. When Italian magazine L'Espresso decided to produce the book series Eros e Fotografia, Yuri was selected as one of the contributors alongside other major-league photographers such as Robert Mapplethorpe, David LaChapelle, Man Ray and Bill Brandt.