I always wanted to have a camera. I never wanted to be
a photographer.
I grew up in a small village in the north of Portugal, surrounded by mountains, animals, a river, and silence. I learned early that life was simple: the land taught me patience, animals and plants taught me care. Long before I knew what a camera was, I was already observing the world as someone trying to hold on to what passes too quickly.
I knew nothing about composition or art. I only knew that I liked to observe, and that I wanted to keep what I was seeing.
Today, I film weddings the same way I cultivate my orchard and care for my bees — with time, dedication, and attention. I make films so that every couple can feel everything all over again.
From André to André Alves Films
I began by studying Economics, but photography was always with me. While I was studying, I worked on photography and video projects in bars and nightclubs — it was the most natural way to combine my desire to learn with the opportunity to explore the world of image-making.
One day, a childhood friend invited me to photograph a wedding with him. That was the beginning of everything. Nearly five years followed as a freelancer — discovering my path, making mistakes, learning, and, above all, understanding what truly moved me. It was no longer just photography; it was video, sound, people. It was the entire experience. I had truly found my way.
Over time, friends and people close to me began getting married, and I realized I could create different films for each couple — stories with their own identity, without repeated formulas.
Andre Alves Films was born from that desire: to give form to what I was already doing, to embrace a language, and to commit to telling honest, well-crafted stories.
Today, six years later, we are a team with a clear identity and a growing presence in the wedding world, as well as in corporate, promotional, and artistic projects. We continue to be driven by the same thing: people, emotion, and the desire to tell stories with truth.
Along the way
Awards are part of the journey and are always welcome.
Still, nothing compares to the messages from couples after they watch their film. It’s in that honest feedback that I know whether I was able to give the moment back as it was truly lived — and that is where I now place all of my focus and dedication.
®
13 years
16 cameras
One brand
Some relationships are built over time, naturally.
For over 14 years, I have worked with Nikon equipment.
Throughout this journey, more than 16 cameras have been in my hands, each one present in real stories, unrepeatable moments and emotions that can never be staged.
This connection has grown organically over the years, leading me to share this journey during a talk held as part of a Nikon Day, where I spoke about visual storytelling and over a decade of real-world experience filming weddings with the brand. Today, Nikon is my trusted ally in every wedding I film supporting me through changing light, real-time decisions and moments that happen only once.
I have always believed in this path.
And it is this long-built trust that I bring into every story I am invited to tell.
My life is not made of love stories alone
It is made of pauses, roots, and simple moments.
Between beehives, trees, and silence, I find the time I need to observe, to listen, and to create with intention. In my orchard (home to around 800 apple trees and 20 beehives) set on a beautifull hillside in Vieira do Minho facing the Gerês mountains, I sometimes disconnect from everything. It is there, far from noise and urgency, that I slow down, breathe, and allow creativity to take shape in the stories I film.
