Our Story
For more than 25 years, the team at Alvis Photography & Video has documented their clients’ special occasions with a winning combination of photo/video skills, soaring creativity and a dedication to client comfort and satisfaction that is unsurpassed.
The story of Alvis Photography begins back in the mid-1980s in St. Petersburg, Russia, where founder Alex Lozovsky earned a degree in photo-journalism and began to publish his images in stock photography collections, prior to commencing his career in School and Events photography. Soon thereafter, recognizing a growing demand for video services, he decided to expand his business offerings by adding professional videographer Alex Burkatoff, a broadcast video news journalist who was then working for one of the two major Ukrainian TV News channels.
Having established a successful enterprise in Russia, in the mid-90s the two Alexes decided to bring their talents to the U.S. and Alvis Photography & Video was reborn in the San Francisco Bay Area. Here, they quickly absorbed the local culture and adapted the business to accommodate the diversity of tastes, beliefs and traditions that flourish in this area.
Now, after a quarter century in operation, the team at Alvis Photography has achieved a well-deserved reputation for their stellar photography and videography skills, as well as their absolute commitment to “go the extra mile” for their clients … from the initial conversation to the event to the final delivery of content.
Check out the Testimonials page for client endorsements of their work.
Our Team
Alex Lozovsky – Founder, Professional Photographer
I know we likely haven’t met before, but hopefully, one day soon we will. Here are a few things I would like to share with you about me before we meet.
Photography has been my passion from the time my beloved dad bought me my first camera when I was just seven years old. I saw the camera as a source of magic back then and after decades as a professional photographer, I still feel the same way.
For me, photography is not just business; it’s a passion that merges my creative passion with my strong desire to see joy in the eyes of my clients as they view the images and videos from their special event.
Over the years, I've learned that the most important part of this business is to build positive relationships with my clients and to earn their trust. Our mission is to always do our very best to make every client feel as comfortable as possible from the very first contact through delivery of their finished photo albums and videos.
What do I do outside of photography? I have a profound interest in art (old masters and engraving) and love to listen to music (jazz and classical), along with reading, theater, skiing and running. I also devote much of my time to my beloved family, especially my little grandson.
And now let me introduce you to my associates, who are essential to the successes we’ve achieved over the years.
Alex Burkatoff – Professional Video Journalist
Greetings, I’m the other Alex and I love shooting and editing video just as much as Alex L loves photography.
Back in the day, I was a broadcast video news journalist for UCTVN (Ukrainian Capital TV News Channel). Prior to that, I studied video journalism at Kiev State University in the Ukraine, where I graduated with an MA degree. Currently, in addition to the exciting projects I get to do for Alvis Photography & Video, I produce video projects for a number of clients, including San Francisco-based “Royal Weddings.” I’ve also completed numerous video journalism assignments for San Francisco-based RussArt television program as well as New York City-based NTV and RTN (Russian-language television channels).
I’m a family-oriented man and my main interests outside of my work are travel, music and sports.
And here’s the third member of our team – Nick Markazyan.
Nick Markazyan – Creative Video Art Professional
Thanks, Alex.
I was blessed to be born in Odessa (Ukraine), one of the most beautiful cities in the world, located on the coast of the Black Sea. Odessa is famous both for its glorious architecture and for its rich history as a multicultural melting pot – now blending Ukrainians, Greeks, Turks, Jews, Russians, Armenians, Italians, Romanians and others who have enriched each other and created a special “nationality” – Odessite! In fact, one of the main reasons I relocated to San Francisco was to live and work in another international city that is a melting pot to so many diverse cultures.
As a child, I developed a wide variety of interests, including soccer, gymnastics, yachting, music and photography. Eventually, I began to focus more on jazz drumming and filmography. My passion for film-making has remained constant throughout my entire life. There’s nothing more inspirational and satisfying than taking part in one of the happiest or most memorable occasions in my clients’ lives and then creating a memento that they can cherish and share for the rest of their lives. When I see their smiles at the end of a project, I know I’ve reached my goal!