Silvia Alexiev

Photographer, videographer, and founder of Anotherframe Studio in Washington, DC. Two decades of looking for the moment that carries the whole story.

The story

Silvia Alexiev was born in Bulgaria and moved to the United States in 1999. Long before that, her father put a Leica in her hands — a still camera, shooting film — and taught her how to load it, how to wait for the light, and how to hold steady. They developed black and white prints together, watching an image surface in a tray in the dark. That is still what photography feels like to her: something true appearing slowly, if you are patient enough to let it.

In the US she studied photography and web design in college, then earned an MA in Film & Video at American University in Washington, DC. Her first internship was at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as a web content creator. She was promoted to video producer and spent ten years producing short documentaries for NASA TV — learning how to build a story out of real people, real light, and no second takes.

Dance has always been her other language. She left NASA to build the dance studio she had been imagining for years, and today runs Salsa With Silvia in the DC area. Her photography and videography skills have shaped how the business is branded, and have captured beautiful images and video of its recitals, classes and events — years of practice at photographing fast movement in difficult light.

In 2019 she returned to photography and videography for clients as a freelancer, and today works alongside a few excellent photographers — together they can help you create memorable photos and videos of your events. Silvia and her team cover corporate events, government and agency events, weddings, family celebrations, model portfolios and headshots throughout Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia, and travel nationwide. Whatever the assignment, they are looking for the same thing: the story, and the emotion inside it.