Photo Rally Los Angeles
After seeing the inspiring photos of Kishan and Anruurag from Rishikesh, I reached out to Jose Rodriguez (14) a local kid in my neighborhood, to see if he was interested in participating in the photo rally. While a little skeptical at first, we met up at Santa Monica beach to talk about the project. Along with me came fellow filmaker Alan Algee, and artist Hunami Sutton.
We attempted to recruit Jose’s friends, who were shy at first, and by the end of workshop were following us around. Jose having never left California, was fascinated by seeing pictures of monkeys and the rich colors of Rishikesh. Jose’s family is from Mexico, and while he lives less than two hours away, he’s never crossed that border. “It’s too risky” he says. He was born in Santa Monica and grew up there with his two older brothers. His older brother recently started taking some photography classes, so Jose was excited to have this opportunity to take some pictures of his own.
Jose recently started wrestling for his High Schools wrestling team, and as part of their training, they would go down to the beach and train on the rings and other work out equipment, on the warm sands of Santa Monica Beach. There is a constant flux of people passing through this area, and Jose and his compatriots are part of the local flavor.
One of Jose’s dreams is to be able to move the way his fellow work out partner James does; ultimate control. Jose being very conscious of his own body, seemed to have a knack for capturing movements and actions at just the right time, freezing moments in order to learn more about them.
His favorite subject to shoot was his family’s dog, Oreo.
While Jose works to strengthen his exterior, his insides remain full of compassion and sensitivity.