Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ricardo Rodriguez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Ricardo, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been surrounded by music. I used to sing and played 3 instruments (drums, keys, guitar) when I was younger. As life went by, I left it behind and pursued other interests: film, writing and photography. The one that resonated the most was photography, but I always felt as if music was dragging me back into that world. I thought that I left it behind, but truthfully music has become my main source of inspiration when it comes to photography. I can’t think of any photographs without listening to music; music shapes my perception to create photographs. Every song that I listen to, I always see photographs accompanying them, so I said to myself: “Why not create these photographs that stay in my head?” My craft / process consists of listening to songs and create compositions, stories, ideas for the song(s) through photos. Even when working with clients, something essential in my process is to create track lists as part of my pitch deck. A mood board is always helpful, but I’ve always perceived the vision of artists when they show me music that relates to the project at hand. Music shapes my photography, it is the driving force that makes me execute my work. If it wasn’t for music, I can firmly say I couldn’t be the artist that I am today.

Ricardo, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a photographer that has worked in as many areas as there can be: Fashion, Editorial, Product, Portraits, Street, Fine Art, Documentary, Concert and the many more on the way. When I was just a child, I mother gifted me this waterproof kodak camera and I just had the time of my life taking photos. Even then as a kid, the thought of being able to freeze a moment in time and keep it forever was a big joy for me. I eventually transitioned to iPhone photography (which was really fun to be honest) until I finally had my first camera, and from there the long journey of finding my aesthetic and personality through photography began. I eventually figured out how to combine my musical background with my photography and have successfully found my place in the artistic world; the aesthetic & personality that I longed to have finally was withing my grasp. I specialize in Portraiture, Editorial, Music & Concert and Fine Art Photography. I work with both digital and film cameras; DSLR & Mirrorless, as well as 35mm 120mm/medium format and 4×5/large format film. Whenever I work with clients I always try to make my sets as friendly and welcoming as it can be; my brand is all about creating a community of artists in which we can all share our wonderful ideas and work on them together. It’s all about love for one another and love in each other’s craft & art. I’ve had the pleasure to create both mock & real campaigns for musicians. I’ve created around 4 mock campaigns, which had led me to create 2 music campaigns for real musicians. My photography is tailored to look like album cover photos and promotional photography for musicians and concerts.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Being kind. Literally the greatest thing you can ever do to improve your reputation and relationships with clients is being a kind-hearted person. I always like to create an environment of kindness and companionship within my sets, since we are already nervous / stressed about our sessions, why not make the best out of it and have fun with it? At the end of the day, photography sets are meant to be fun and uplift one another.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Art is subjective, which is very commonly said, but I could never believe. I always needed to hear approval from others to be able to classify my art as “good” I would go to my peers and professors in college and always ask if it was good or not, I could never engage in a conversation about my pieces since I only cared about them being good or not. To no surprise, through music I learned that it’s not about if the piece is good or not, rather what feeling and emotions it evokes. I took that mentality into my photographic craft and solely focused on creating narratives, no longer creating pieces that their whole idea was for them to look good. Many people will not resonate with your art, but the right people will always be the audience for every release you will present

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.riezphotography.com/
• Instagram: riez.photography
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/ricardo-rodriguez-470666262

Image Credits
Personal Photo taken by Sarah Eaves / PHOTOSOOC studio