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Vanessa Rodriguez

@vrod176

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🎞️📸📍NY/CA
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Finally starting to pull together 13 years of images I’ve taken in the East Bay (Oakland Mostly) . I received a scholarship to join a 4-month group photography mentorship, where we were asked to have a project in mind or to have something already in motion. This project has been in my heart and has always been part of my long term plan. My Visual Love Letter to Oakland, to the East Bay. To all the ways living here has shaped and informed my life, my Being.. It feels like perfect timing too, considering how much shit talking the media does about Oakland-a narrow, single minded narrative that always misses the heart of what makes this place special. The Bay has influenced music, activism, style, art, spirituality, food, literature-you name it and it is still making waves. So much talent here, so much creativity, so much innovation. Much love to the Bay Area from an East Coast girl. Always a visitor but b/c of the rich soil here, I’ve been blessed to plant mighty roots for the last decade plus. Hope my images will reflect even a fraction of my appreciation. 💗🙏🏽🌹 #oakland #eastbay #35mm taken in Oakland, California by @vrod176
68
2 years ago
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We all had or have a titi, tía, abuela, or neighbor watching the neighborhood from above. To me, this feels like a quintessential summer scene in New York. If it weren’t for the contemporary hints that give away the time, this image could have been made in a different era. Brooklyn 6/14/26 🎞️ taken in Brooklyn, New York by @vrod176
10
3 months ago
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Post Knicks Win 6/13/26 UWS, NYC 🎞️ taken in NYC by @vrod176
3
3 months ago
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A signal. A gathering. Joy is resistance! To all my Latinx brothers and sisters: you deserve to exist here or anywhere you choose. This moment isn’t just about Puerto Ricans. This is something we can all rejoice in together. And no, this isn’t celebrity worship. This isn’t about giving importance to something “insignificant.” This moment matters and the timing could not feel more divine… We love Benito. But even more than that, we love that he stands for something. It’s not lost on us that the NFL is a corporation and they have something to gain. But we also have something to gain. And if some people don’t understand that, it’s okay. Don’t try to convince anyone. Let today be a moment of celebration. Of love. Dance so hard and let the haters hate. Todos son familia hoy!! 💗 Everyone is family today 💗 @badbunnypr by @vrod176
11
8 months ago
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A little love note to my favorite photo lab, @crc.nyc in NYC — 73 Ludlow 💛 Quick turnaround, reliable quality, and now offering sprocket scans. I’m hooked. Here are just a few favorites from the scans I just got back 🎞️ by @vrod176
10
a year ago
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Made these images during the Pandemic while I was working on “Self Portraiture Through the Lens of Memory” I chose to focus on my father as subject since at that time I was going through what seemed like a very delayed grieving (grieving has no timeline by the way) He passed summer of 97’ and it has not been a linear path of understanding and accepting that he transitioned so young (52 years). Same time as I was taking this class some words poured out of me. I’ve never shared them with anyone but here is the first part of what I wrote. ‘Father Figure’ Shadow in my dreams last night fell into daylight. Opened my eyes, weeping, because the light crept in my window, illuminating your distance once more. I remember your face, but I can’t hear your voice. I wish answering machines were still a thing so I could find you somewhere in the analog. Going back in time feels like a gift I can’t unwrap, so I throw the gift out the sixth-floor window of 110th Street. I jump to watch it land in front of the Bodega that used to have your picture up after you passed. How’d they get that picture? Why don’t I have it? They shut down the Bodega because things are changing around here. Wish you were still here, because you’d still be you, and those streets would still know your name… 2020 Multiple Exposures on 35mm by @vrod176
9
a year ago
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Field trip to the library anyone? I’m stretching myself here—-> made my 1st video w/ voiceover in CapCut. Im often at odds with social media but I’m trying to share a bit more as an exercise. It was fun to make this. For someone who does not like to learn new apps/tech this really was a stretch. “Done not perfect” is my motto this year! taken in Berkeley, California by @vrod176
37
a year ago
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I met Linda on a walk down Lenox Avenue in Harlem, 2014. She was set up right there on the sidewalk - a table, a chair, a crystal ball — offering readings. I didn’t plan to take her picture. I was just passing through, and we fell into conversation. She noticed the camera around my neck and asked if I wanted to photograph her. I spent a few minutes making images, and when I finished, she offered me a short reading. I said sure, what the hell! I don’t remember details of what she said. But there was one thing - something so specific it didn’t make sense to me then - that revealed itself a couple months later. There was no way she could have known; it hadn’t happened yet.
And it wasn’t vague, like a guess you could fit into anything. It was pointed, direct. I’ve never shared what it was she told me b/c it’s quite personal but when it unfolded, it placed me in a kind of awe. When I look at this image, it feels stitched to that memory - meeting her, talking with her, and staying open enough to receive what she felt called to share. It affirmed something I already believed in: that there is far more happening beneath the surface of things. I’ve had too many experiences throughout my life to believe otherwise. 
It’s why I believe in being open to strangers, to the messages nature carries, to the words that seem to find us in books, in songs, in passing conversations. Guidance is always trying to reveal itself, find its way to us, helping us move closer into possibility.  I haven’t perfected that listening but it’s a practice I’m always cultivating. And somewhere along the way, image-making became part of that practice too. 📸🙏🏽💗 taken in Harlem, New York City by @vrod176
0
a year ago
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We are on the theme of LOVE, cuz LOVE is.. taken in New York, New York by @vrod176
2
a year ago
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This is a super oldie. I think taken around 2012, shortly after moving to Oakland and starting to go to First Fridays. It’s one of my favorites and epitomizes the LOVE felt once I got here.. Definitely a classic from my Oakland/Bay Area archive. 📸 Shot on the same film camera I am using til this day. Just start where you are and with what you have. @aimathedreamer taken in Oakland, California by @vrod176
10
a year ago
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I’ve always loved experimenting with double/multiple exposures on film. It’s one of my favorite ways to try and make something fresh/new. This image was back from when @lomography first came out with their purple film stock around 13/14’ I bought a bunch of rolls and messed around. Have always loved this one of @gavinanthonydesigns . Currently going through lots of images and wanting to share some as I go through. Film has had an explosion in the last years so feels fitting to share some info about the images I have made in the last decade + Music by the one and only @gavinanthonydesigns @featherloadmusic taken in Oakland, California by @vrod176
13
a year ago
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My favorite part about shooting on the street is connecting with people. Seeing someone who looks inspiring, has style, good energy, something that makes you want to talk to them. Saw @goldeneyestudios.gallery as I was walking into my mom’s building. I followed him up 110th to Columbus Ave, shooting the back of his coat (2nd photo). Struck up a conversation with him and turns out he was visiting from Boston and in the neighborhood walking around with his camera as well while his lady was at the same photo walk I happened to be at, full circle moment. Love the way they came out.. Check out his work! @goldeneyestudios.gallery Shot on 35mm Lomography 100 pushed to 400 taken in New York, New York by @vrod176
5
a year ago
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