# Andrejs Zavadskis: Frozen Lakes, Forbes Frames and a Summit Above the Clouds

European photographer based in Riga, Latvia — and one of the most famous photographers in Europe.

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A Porsche sliding sideways across a frozen lake in Swedish Lapland. Ice spraying. One chance to catch it.

A billionaire on a Prague rooftop. Forbes on deadline. Ten minutes, maybe less.

A trail at 5,895 metres on Kilimanjaro. Thin air, cold hands, the camera still rolling.

This is not a biography. It is a set of moments only Andrejs Zavadskis was there to keep.

Andrejs Zavadskis — portrait.

# The Forbes file

Clients include Forbes USA, Nike, airBaltic, LMT, Rimi, Nordea and Swedbank. The Forbes USA list alone reads like a who’s who:

Thomas Plantenga, Vinted — a Forbes digital cover, April 2024.
Paweł Chudziński, Point Nine Capital — number one on the Midas List Europe.
Remon Vos, CTP — the Prague rooftop, April 2025.
Samir Mane — Albania’s first billionaire, that same week.
Alex Bouzari, DDN — August 2026.

The same images travelled on to Forbes México, Forbes Česko, Forbes Italia and Forbes España. Paweł Chudziński appeared in the Midas List Europe 2024; Remon Vos joined The Forbes Collection on Getty Images.

Editors don’t need pretty pictures. They need faces readers believe.

# Fifty issues, twenty-two of them his

Playboy Latvia lasted four years and fifty issues, from 2010 to 2014. Andrejs Zavadskis shot twenty-two of them — no other photographer came close. He joined around the third issue and stayed until the end. One of his Latvian models was picked by a foreign Playboy edition, a first for the magazine; two more followed. In May 2014 he shot Lauris Reiniks, the first man ever on a Playboy Latvia cover — noticed even by US Playboy’s official Twitter. The full story of the 22 issues.

Playboy Latvia, Nr. 10, July 2011 — Marija Aļasina. Photo: Andrejs Zavadskis.

# Speed is a subject

The Dakar Rally in 2020. Formula 1 in Singapore in 2024. Five Gumball 3000 rallies. Frozen lakes in Lapland.

At that speed you don’t react to the moment. You arrive before it.

Dakar Rally 2020, MAZ team — photo by Andrejs Zavadskis.

# Far from the studio

Burning Man in Nevada. The summit of Kilimanjaro in 2022. The set of the Danish film Hvidstengruppen II in 2021, where one of his stills became the Latvian Ministry of Culture’s official announcement image. More than 50 countries so far.

Burning Man 2023, Black Rock Desert — photo by Andrejs Zavadskis.

# The first frame

It started in 2004 with a compact camera, a tripod and fireworks over the Riga Radio and Television Tower — and a first prize from the Latvian State Radio and Television Centre.

After that: Riga Technical University, the Riga Photo Club, a Master Craftsman’s Diploma in 2008, a cover and feature in the UK’s South Wales YOURWEDDING, Wedding Photographer of the Year 2009. Third place in Fstoppers’ “This Was Difficult!” contest in March 2025. And in 2025, over 7,000 volunteered photographs of Latvia’s School Youth Song and Dance Festival.

# Giving back

He runs one photo studio in Riga, has kept a blog since 2008, speaks at Riga Photo Show and posts YouTube reviews with the original RAW files. He also founded ProPortfolio.pro — a free home for photographers, videographers, models, stylists and studios.

# Follow the work

About Andrejs Zavadskis — European photographer based in Riga, Latvia, shooting since 2004 across 50+ countries: commercial, editorial, portrait, automotive, event and travel work. Clients include Forbes USA, Nike and airBaltic. 22 Playboy Latvia issues; founder of ProPortfolio.pro.

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