Documentary Photographer #1 Joseph Rodriguez

 

I came across this artist in the Visura Magazine and was immediately drawn to him. Joseph Rodriguez is an amazing social documentary photographer and photojournalist. For two decades, Joseph Rodriguez has traveled the world, documenting  human struggle and redemption.  His past projects have taken him to Romania during the end of the Cold War, to Zambia to chronicle the AIDS orphan epidemic, to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the wake of the 9-11 attacks, and to Argentina’s imploded socio-economic cosmos shortly after. He also documents the domestic landscape of America’s society, which is why I have taken a liking to him.

His work in the United States has taken him to explore the lives of ordinary people and share their stories. He documented Katrina during the hurricane and two years after, which nobody really did. He set out to photograph how people, two years after Katrina, still had no home and waiting for help. I too, took pictures during and after Katrina. New Orleans is like my second home and I was in “awe” when I saw the damage that the hurricane had done. I also took pictures on the 5 year anniversary and documented the homes and steps that were still left behind.

He also has explored the resurrection of his own troubled youth to reach children in Northern California’s juvenile justice system; and in rare, brutally present images of East L.A. gang families. He recent work is called ” Reentry in Los Angeles,” which has to do with the American Violence in American and the effects that it has on families falling apart, unemployment, drug abuse and prison life. He shows the continued growth of the prison industry and the how it impacts the lives and future of the people.

His photography is very different from anything I have really seen. But I like him because he wants to help people, but allowing them to tell their story. I feel like everyone has a story, no matter what age or color you are, everyone has a story to tell. In a way, I am kind of like Rodriguez, because I feel the same way and right now with the project I am working on.“It’s not very popular, the kind of photography I do. I feel like the beat generation. But this is a very important point – it really is for the people, it’s about the people.”- Rodriguez