Yatzek grew up as part of the dynamic artistic community in the beautiful old city of Krakow, Poland. His father Stanislaw Szmuc (1911-1997) was a celebrated painter and stained glass artist whose work can be still be seen in the gothic cathedral of the city of Opole and in churches throughout Poland.
Yatzek’s earliest photos won photojournalism awards; within Poland he became recognized as a leading figure in the subversive, avant–garde collective known as the Grupa Roboca. His creative work was exhibited world wide at a time when very few polish artists came to international attention from behind the iron curtain.
During 1972–73 The group exhibition Fotografowie Poszukujacy” was seen in Cologne, Nuremberg, Geneva, Milan, Kassel, New York and Tokyo.
Nowadays major examples of Yatzek’s work can be found in private collections and in the Museum of Modern Art in Lodz, Poland.
Yatzek is currently based in Melbourne Australia; his fashion and editorial work are characterised by the same restless searching for new and challenging aesthetics that have shaped his career as an exhibiting artist.
Yatzek’s commercial clients can rely on technical precision, creative intelligence, and a breadth of experience that combine to produce distinctive work of the highest quality.
Yatzek has an acute sense of composition linked with a fascination for the potential of lighting technologies and design to enhance creative vision.
He is dedicated to directing and responding to talent with humour and insight.
All of Yatzek’s work reflects his European sensibilities and the vitality of his artistic heritage.
'Aphids' long-standing partnership with Yatzek Studios has not only documented our many artistic collaborations with vigour and precision; but indeed contributed to the artistic process in unexpected and enduringly inspiring ways. Yatzek's ability to capture the transient is rare - his photographic eye casts light into the shadows that often remain hidden in the contemporary performing arts.
David Young
Composer/Artistic Director
Aphids