Born in the Eastern Ukraine, part of the former U.S.S.R, Igor Brook’s childhood dreams were to become a geographer or historian and to travel extensively.  Regarding his future career, his grandparents had other ideas and gently nudged him towards medicine.  Eventually Igor decided to pursue Dentistry and has no regrets.

His desire to explore the world, however, never left him – in fact, it developed into an obsession, but one impossible to indulge while living in the Soviet Union.  At 27, he immigrated to Australia with his family, applied himself wholeheartedly to mastering English and achieving his Dentistry degree, and then devoted himself to work for several years to establish himself in his profession.

In 1990, Igor was finally able to embark on his travel adventures, starting with a trip to Vietnam.  Now a popular tourist destination, back then Vietnam was a closed communist country – although not as intimidating for someone born in the Soviet Union!  Igor travelled with a freelance journalist friend who took thousands of photos during the trip and ignited Igor’s interest in photography.

Upon arriving back in Sydney, he immediately bought his first Nikon, started snapping images and hasn’t stopped.  Indeed, photography developed into another passion for Igor who has since taken travel photos throughout Australia, the USA, Europe, South America, Bhutan, Tibet, Nepal, Laos, Iran, Myanmar, Cambodia, Borneo, Israel, Egypt, Turkey and Antarctica.  For the last several years, his focus has been on avian photography, capturing stunning images of birds in their natural habitats around the world.

Throughout it all, Igor maintained his interest in geography and history, as well as art and politics.But if you ask him what he most enjoys, Igor will tell you it’s making people smile.He’s found that caring for patients in his Bondi Junction dental practice and indulging in his 30 year obsession with photography both give him an opportunity to do so!

Boaz Stark

Writer, long standing patient and friend