Spanish photographer Javier Tles gets behind the camera for a unique Amstel photographic project documenting real friendships. Shot Without Permission captures unguarded moments between friends photographed discreetly by Tles in neighborhood bars.
Tles lensed the series of spontaneous photos without actors, scripts of direction, documenting real people in neighbourhood bars. The project was commissioned by Amstel, and inspired by the company’s founders who started the beer company in Amsterdam in 1870 – two friends who believed the best moments in life are the ones where you can be your real self, surrounded by the people who know you best.
This campaign for Amstel comes from a very simple place, yet one that is rarely explored in advertising: reality. It aims to show authentic moments between friends, everyday situations without intervention, without staging, without artifice. Something that, interestingly, is not so common in an industry that often builds fictional versions of what life is supposed to look like.
Amstel departed from conventional advertising practices and photographer Javier Tles worked discreetly, moving through bars and capturing moments instinctively as they unfolded.
After the shots were taken, the team approached those who were photographed to inform them about the potential use of the images and to obtain their explicit consent. What remains are unposed scenes – observed rather than constructed – capturing connection as it naturally happens.
For me, the beauty of this project lies precisely in that simplicity: accepting life as it is. This idea connects directly with my roots as a documentary photographer and represented an important challenge, one I embraced with great enthusiasm, but also with a strong sense of responsibility.
From the beginning, I understood that this project was about observation and patience. Real friendship exists; there is no need to invent it, you just have to be able to see it. If you are willing to observe honestly, the moments reveal themselves. And that is the strength of the campaign: capturing what is already happening, without interfering.
Throughout the process, we looked for real groups of friends, of all kinds, spending time together in bars, around an Amstel, sharing their stories. It may sound simple, but it is not. The greatest challenge was precisely to disappear, to not be seen. To ensure that the presence of the camera would not influence the scene.
I literally worked by hiding wherever I could: behind doors, inside kitchens, among plants… always keeping my distance with a telephoto lens that allowed me to enter the scene without altering it. On top of that, there were the lighting conditions, often very limited, as is typical in bars, which required working with precision and with equipment I trust completely.
In the end, it has been a deeply enriching experience. I’ve been fortunate to work with a production team and an agency brave enough to support an unconventional idea, and to give me the space to develop it with honesty. hope there will be more projects like this, where reality is not something to construct, but something to observe. Because real friendship needs no preparation. And this project, in some way, proves it.”
Javier Tles
As an extension of the idea, individuals who recognize themselves in campaign placements across outdoor and social channels are invited to come forward and claim a year’s supply of Amstel. By removing control from the production process, Shot Without Permission positions itself as a counterpoint to both traditional advertising and wider performance culture, reinforcing Amstel’s commitment to human connection in an increasingly synthetic world. It is a modern expression of a long-held belief of this brand born in Amsterdam, a place of respect and freedom, where people are free to be themselves.
A study commissioned by Amstel finds that friends are the people we feel most ourselves around – more than even romantic partners, with 68% seeing friendships as key enablers of being their true, authentic selves.
Friendship and authenticity have always been at the heart of Amstel and nods to the values of the brand’s founding city of Amsterdam, where, back in 1870, two friends turned founders set out to brew a beer worthy of their friendship.
From the very beginning, Amstel has been about bringing people together in genuine moments of connection, embracing the golden circle of friends that make you feel completely comfortable. When just being yourself is enough. Today, so much of life feels curated and staged, and we wanted to focus on the moments where there is no pressure to perform. Those are the moments that matter most in life, where we feel truly appreciated for being who we are, and those are the moments this initiative celebrates.”
Vanessa Brandão, Global Brand Director for Amstel, HEINEKEN
To portray genuine friendship, we had to momentarily break every rule in marketing. No casting. No script. No consent. We decided to shoot first and ask for permission later. The results speak for themselves.”
Daniel Fisher, Global Chief Creative Officer, INGO
“This has been one of the most challenging and rewarding projects we’ve taken on. We are fortunate to work with a client who backed this idea without knowing the outcome, driven only by a belief in how authentic real friendship looks like. We hope Amstel sparks this shift towards portraying friendship as it truly is: imperfect, unfiltered, and deeply human.”
Nicolas López Bravo and Fernando Montero, Executive Creative Directors, INGO AMSTERDAM
