Born in 1974 in a small rural community near Vladivostok, Yury Toroptsov left his native Russia in 1998 to study at the New School for Social Research in New York after having won a prestigious scholarship.

Nourished by his Far-Eastern origins, American travels and the current residence in Europe, Yury Toroptsov keeps at the core of his work what constitutes a common denominator for those distant cultures: people and their identity and the permanence of myths. Memories, metamorphosis, profane and sacred are the recurring themes in his photographs.

In 2008 he was given a solo show at the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie in Paris. His series, "The House of Baba Yaga" was shown at Paris Photo in 2008. In 2009 Toroptsov exhibited at the Rencontres d'Arles. His work has been exhibited in various group shows in Paris where he now lives.