Algirdas Tarvydas was born in 1940, Kaunas. In 1959–1962 he studied directing at the Vilnius Culture and Education Institute, and in 1968–1973 he acquired camera operator’s skills at the Moscow National State Cinematography Institute. In 1966–1992 he worked as an assistant, cameraman and director at the Lithuanian Film Studio; since 1992, as a director of documentary and video films.

During the 30 years of his career he has filmed more than 300 stories for cinema-journals Soviet Lithuania and Lithuanian Chronicle, and created 63 cinema-journals. As a cameraman he has shot 21 documentary film and 20 chronicles about Lithuanian people.

Tarvydas had ten photographic exhibitions, some of them thematic: Cinematographers, In BAM, In the Land of Tumene, In Katek, Our Friend Erfurt, The Last Visit of Marija Gimbutienė in Lithuania. In 1966 he founded the Vilnius Photoclub.

Tarvydas has created over twenty documentary films as a director, script writer and cameraman.