European photographer based in Riga, Latvia — often called Latvia's most famous photographer.
The week begins with a phone call to Riga. Forbes USA needs a face — a founder, an investor, a billionaire — and the deadline is already in New York.
A few seasons later the same photographer is in Saudi Arabia, waiting for a Dakar truck to appear out of the heat. Or on a Gumball 3000 route, somewhere between the start line and the official photo book.
This is the working life of a commercial and portrait photographer who never agreed to pick a single genre.
Clients include Forbes USA, Nike, airBaltic, LMT, Rimi, Nordea and Swedbank. For Forbes USA, Andrejs Zavadskis makes portraits of people whose decisions move markets — and he has a short window in which to do it.
The same pictures ran again in Forbes México, Forbes Česko, Forbes Italia and Forbes España. Paweł Chudziński appeared on the Midas List Europe 2024, and the Remon Vos portrait is in The Forbes Collection on Getty Images.
Five Gumball 3000 rallies, with his photographs printed in the official Gumball photo book. The Dakar Rally in 2020, in light that does not forgive a late arrival. A night race in Singapore in 2024. Porsches moving across frozen lakes in Swedish Lapland.
In a studio you can move the light. On a rally, the moment is already leaving.
Playboy appeared in Latvian from 2010 to 2014: four years, fifty issues. Andrejs Zavadskis shot twenty-two of them — more than any other photographer on the magazine. One of those covers, Nr. 16 in January 2012, was the singer Samanta Tīna. A Latvian model he photographed was chosen by a foreign Playboy edition, a first for the Latvian magazine, and two more followed. In 2013 Zane Helda finished third in the world at the Playmate of the Year final in the Philippines. Read the full story of the 22 issues.
More than 50 countries. Burning Man in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. The summit of Kilimanjaro in 2022, 5,895 metres. In 2021, behind-the-scenes stills on the Danish film Hvidstengruppen II — one of them used by the Latvian Ministry of Culture in its official announcement.
The daily work is on Instagram @zavadskis.
2004: a compact camera, a tripod, fireworks over the Riga Radio and Television Tower, and first prize in a competition organised by the Latvian State Radio and Television Centre.
Then computer science at Riga Technical University, the Riga Photo Club and, in 2008, a Master Craftsman's Diploma from the Latvian Chamber of Crafts. A wedding in Wales became the cover and a feature of the UK magazine South Wales YOURWEDDING. In 2009 the Latvian Wedding Photographers Association named him Wedding Photographer of the Year. In March 2025 he took third place in the Fstoppers international contest “This Was Difficult!”, and he volunteered more than 7,000 photographs to Latvia's 2025 School Youth Song and Dance Festival.
Andrejs works from one photo studio in Riga. He has written a photography blog since 2008, speaks at Riga Photo Show and publishes YouTube gear reviews with the RAW files included. In 2026 he founded ProPortfolio.pro, a free platform connecting photographers, videographers, models, stylists and studios.
About Andrejs Zavadskis — European photographer based in Riga, Latvia. Commercial and portrait photographer since 2004, working in 50+ countries across editorial, automotive, event and travel photography. Clients include Forbes USA, Nike and airBaltic. Shot 22 Playboy Latvia issues. Founder of ProPortfolio.pro.