So the story goes something like this: young 24-year-old Erica Rodriguez somehow finds herself on Craig’s list and spots Los Angeles Contemporary Art Exhibition, otherwise known as, LACE. LACE meets Rodriguez; Rodriguez meets LACE, gets hired on a summer internship. LACE hires the young American born Mexican and thus, a star is born. While in high school, Rodriguez became interested in photography and started filming performances, friends and family. Her father noticed early on that she was talented and so presented Erica with her first camera.
“I wanted to keep something to have as memories for the rest of my years” said the young photographer.
Her love of picture taking snowballed, eventually leading Rodriguez to become photo editor for her yearbook class. Her recognizable talent showed through when she started taking pictures of her senior class. Rodriguez showed the pics to her high school professor, who really liked both the photo and Rodriguez’s original ideas for the yearbook layout. Her imagination sprang to life as she began to put her creative mind to work and come up with pictorial themes.
This inspired the 24 year old to continue to build up her portfolio. As Rodriguez transitioned from high school to college so did her thirst for photography, and a camera soon became her constant companion. Even when she went to dinner, she would take pictures of her food and so her reputation started to soar. One of the professors in college discovered that she liked shooting and was teaching still photography. He invited Rodriguez to become a photo documentarian at the first gallery showing held at UC Merced, in Merced, California. Rodriguez started going to every event at the gallery and taking pictures.
“I like action shots” she said. “During my final years of school, I entered an art contest, at UC Merced Bobcat Art show. I noticed that some of the kids at my school presented their work at the show. They encouraged me to enter the contest and told me they thought I that I could probably win. I did not feel that I could win, because I was not at the same level as everyone else, although they really believed that I could do it.”
Winning first place encouraged Rodriguez to keep pushing forward with her photographic endeavor.
“Thereafter I was able to work for school events. Eventually, people began to take notice,” Rodriguez said. “After that, I committed to taking photos and decided to stick to my background of photos and documentation. I had a friend that liked my photos and asked if I could take some engagement pictures for her. I like doing a little of that as well. I was actually looking for work online for internship opportunities and discovered that LACE was looking for a documentarian intern. It was the perfect opportunity. I checked other places and most had archival internships, gallery guide, or production assistant.”
Rodriguez would then take her experience and confidence to apply at LACE. After what she described as an incredible interview, she noticed an announcement on VoulunteerMatch.org indicating their need for volunteers with public events.
“Since I already had some production experience, I then decided to help them with their events. After emailing the Development Associate where I presently work, she contacted me and told me all about the position, what time it was and what I should wear,” Rodriguez said. “As we were talking, she noticed that I had documentation experience from interning at LACE so she introduced me to Nicole, my present supervisor, who is the Director of Community Services and Outreach. The Director of the 18th Street Art Center told Nicole that because of my analytic background she thought that I would make a great documentation assistant”.
The 18th Street Arts Center decided to present her with an offer back in February 2014. In addition, Rodriguez was given the center’s Image Archiving position and she now writes artist biographies at the 18th Street Arts Center. 18th Street sits perfectly in the small nook of the corner of 18th Street and Olympic Boulevard. Closed off from the streets in a Zen garden like cul-de-sac, the Center nurtures young adults from close by Urban areas.
In this position, Rodriguez receives and reviews photos and any past images not used by other photographers. She files and categories the images and sends them to artist that need to post on their social media pages. In addition, some of those images are submitted to the 18th Art Center for press and other media outlets. As a Mexican American, Rodriguez explained the amazing support that her family gave her particularly, her father. Rodriguez interprets for her parents, runs small errands and does as much as she can to help her them out. “They are not like those traditional Mexican parents,” She said.
What does the future hold for this bright, rising star? According to Rodriguez, her plans are to continue building her portfolio and taking photos of the people places and things that bring her joy. In our opinion, this sugar kissed and gifted photographer could very well, give the world’s lead image-makers a run for their money.