CHLOE RODRIGUEZ

Chloe Rodriguez, 19, is one of the oldest students of the BDC, attending classes before the Bronx Junior Photo League (BJPL) was created. She started in 2011, the same year that the BDC opened when she was still an elementary student at Immaculate Conception School. Now she has grown into a talented photographer who studies photography and politics at New York University. One of the many jobs she works is at NYU’s photo lab, using the skills she harnessed at the BDC to continue on her professional journey. She carries a deep appreciation for documentary film and street photography.

BY PAMELA Y. ROZON

What has the BDC given you in terms of professional skills?

They taught me everything I needed to know about being a photographer. They taught me how to compose an image, how to make an image, and how literally to be a professional in this field. I give a lot of credit to [the BDC] because I’ve gained a sense of how being a photographer isn’t just about making a fancy image. Anyone could take a photo but it takes real skill to make art. I remember it was an ongoing joke that Mike would say, “This photo doesn’t change my life.” It’s [always] stuck with me because a photo is supposed to change someone’s life. A photo is supposed to make you sit and think about your whole work.

Can you talk a little bit about your experience studying photography, especially at NYU? Being in a rigorous school like NYU is hard. It’s known as being a difficult school to get into and meeting their standards is incredibly hard. On top of that, you have so many other classes that it gets stressful at times. I think the work I produce now is completely different than the work I produced at the BDC. I’m focused on making projects for school, but it’s also given me that technical skill of learning how to meet deadlines, learning how to create projects that [other] people are giving to me [while also keeping to my vision].

What are your current photography projects? I most recently did a self-portrait project about my body and how I view myself. I was bullied in high school for having the body I have. Photography gave me a way out of the frame. It gave me a chance to be behind the camera when all my life I’ve been bullied and in the spotlight. I’ve been very focused on documentary and street photography. I’m kind of just taking this time to play around with lighting and different materials to get a better sense of what I really want to do with my photography. I still love documentaries, but I’m kind of branching out now to see what other things I can do and learn.

© Chloe Rodriguez

I know that you still visit the BDC. What does this space mean to you?

It’s a community. It is where I grew up. If I was not at school I was here, and if I was not here I was at work. This is the space I spent most of my childhood and teenage years. I started when I was ten and stayed here all the way till I was 18. It’s my home. It’s where I come and reminisce on how good the BDC has treated me.

Can you talk about how it felt to win an award for the first time based on your skills as a photographer?

Okay, how many features did I have in The New York Times.. like four or five? I was in seventh grade. I was so excited. I remember Bianca telling me that I was gonna be in the New York Times. It wasn’t just that one time, every time felt like I’m doing it for the first time. I wasn’t like, “Oh been there, done that.” But I was genuinely excited. I was in a French magazine, and I still have that magazine in my dorm.

The most recent time I was in Photoville and it was with The New York Times. A self-portrait, I forget the title, but it wasn’t a self-portrait of me, it was my two grandmothers. My whole family went to Photoville to look at my work. I remember I took my grandmother, I have two great-grandmothers and they’re both sisters. And I took a picture of them. I remember bringing my grandmother I’m like,” hurry up, hurry up. Let’s go. Let’s go like you have to see it!”

In my childhood home, I’ve always complained that there were never any photos of me. It was just photos of my family members back home, my family is from Ecuador, and I was so jealous. And I was alive. Half of these people were either back home or dead. I used to get so mad. And then I did this work of art. When I took both of these photos, I was holding my grandmother’s hands like it was the last time. She was the one who took care of me my whole life and I was holding her hand because she was really sick. She’s alive of course but I remember visiting her in the hospital bed during COVID and I would hold her hand as tight as it could.

How was it like taking that picture?

It was hard because you’re potentially mourning a loss. It was to remember the fact that I had both of them with me and that I had that moment with them. So people couldn’t say I didn’t spend enough [time with them]. It was validation that I did have those moments with them like a celebration of life.

What do you want to do in the future?

When I first started out I wanted to change people’s minds about the Bronx. I wanted to do more social justice and documentary work to show how people’s lives come to be in the Bronx. I think now that I’m getting older, I really want to capture people’s lives. I love photography. I have a good eye for it, but in the long run, I would love to edit photos. I do want to do something in the editing world but that doesn’t mean that I won’t stop taking photos. This could change in a year or two.

What advice would you give to new photographers?

Don’t stop learning. Be humble. I think that is what kept me going. Humility is one of the most important things that a person can have, especially as a photographer, because you understand your worth and you realize how artistically powerful you can be. But you also acknowledge that you have room to grow and that you have room to learn. I haven’t stopped learning photography. There’s so much I still do not know and that I’m eager to learn.