Biography

Manuel Rodriguez is a street and portrait photographer born and raised in Eastside San Jose. Manuel first used photography as a way to pay homage and document his Latino and Chicano culture and to immortalize the many things he felt was special of his heritage and family roots. He would capture moments and landscapes in his own neighborhood and his family town in Nayarit, Mexico. 

Manuel was later influenced by the melting pot that is the Bay Area, he captures the everyday life of the many different cultures that reside there and uses his camera as a gateway for the viewer to see life in the Bay Area. and how the many cultures that call it home are able to coexist and live with one another. He romanticizes what many would see as mundane and captures the ever present hustle and bustle of the city that is ever changing, hoping to capture the moments that many would not notice and to freeze time and find a moment of brevity in the city.

One of his largest projects is to use his portraiture to change the narrative of how latino and chicano men with tattoos are perceived. He uses his lens to show the vulnerability of Latino men and change the machismo culture that has been rooted in latino culture for years.