Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessie Rodriguez.
Hi Jessie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born and raised in the small town of Perryton, Texas. About two hours northeast of Amarillo and seven miles from the Oklahoma border. I grew up on athletics, farming and oilfield but it was not until I moved to Austin, Texas in 2014 that I was introduced to the filmmaking/photography world as a career. I hit the ground running and joined the Digital Film&Video program at the Art Institute of Austin and freelancing on the side, gripping on low-budget films, interning at the Austin Film Festival and foolin around with portrait photography with the homies at Youvolution (A film co-working space founded by my good friend Ben Gibson). Doing all that for a year led to building a big enough community in film to finally jump into the freelance world, full-time. Hundreds of sets later, I’ve honed both my technical and story-telling skills, bringing them to my work, whether it be cinematography, directing, photography or editing. I focus primarily as a director in music videos and narrative films and as a film portrait photographer.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Hmm… no. It’s been a struggle since day one. Nobody told me about the struggles one will endure when you take the road to becoming a full-time artist. Sometimes money comes in abundance, sometimes money is scarce. Sometimes you flow with confidence, sometimes you flow with doubt. Sometimes you go through with a project, sometimes you fall through. The highs and lows (life) can be heavy but I wouldn’t have it any other way. There is beauty and love for oneself every time one overcomes the lows and channels all the experiences, good and bad, into something one can express to the world. This road has taken me all over the world, befriending and experiencing people from all backgrounds, communities and cultures. Even at the lowest, I could still find the joy, laughter, love and contentment in what I already had and what I had to experience in those moments. I didn’t know anything about film and cameras, hell to even turn one on in the beginning, but I knew I wasn’t afraid of hardship. Thanks to my small town life experiences, I trusted in myself to overcome and thrive in whatever situation was put in my path. It’s been a helluva ride.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I focus on being film director, cinematographer and film portrait photographer. On my Instagram, I’m known more as a film portrait photographer. I only posted my photography but recently I have been working on changing that narrative and posting my video projects. I’ve got a good portfolio of directing/shooting music videos for local artists in Austin, like Midnight Navy, Shiela, Mike Melinoe, The Teeta and Shanzyan. Mostly on hip-hop/rap and r&b but I’ve recently stepped into country music! Figures, since I grew up in small country town, I felt right at home when directing these past few country music videos. I’ve got a country music video coming out soon for Colby Swift and its my proudest project yet as a director and editor.
What sets you apart from others?
My friends tell me that its my way of capturing individuals in their environment, in video and in photography. I honestly don’t know. What I do know is that I love to work with and hang with people and experience their lifestyle. I like to romanticize things and in that view, I tend to think I capture what feels real. Feeling connection to whatever it is inside of me. My heart? My soul? My inner child? All of it and more?
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
The best part about Austin is the people who express themselves and are genuine to themselves and to everyone else. All the artists, rebels, outcasts, lovers, builders, thinkers and more! These people are what’s best about Austin, Texas. Also the weather and landscape!
Pricing:
- Film/Digital Photography $95/Hour
Contact Info:
- Email: jessie@weseewaves.com
- Website: weseewaves.com
- Instagram: @weseewaves
- Twitter: @weseewaves
Image Credits
Photo 1 (Me with the camera and backpack on) – Photographer: Nidi Nizam @nidinizam Photo 2 (Portrait of woman in Nike top) Model: Maddie Socha @sochasochasocha Photo 3 (Portrait of woman with denim jacket at sunset) Model: Chevis Labelle @chevislabelle Photo 4 – San Francisco Photo 5 – (Portrait in garage with red light) @Torreblake Photo 6 – (two men on skateboard) Model: Eric Manaka @pisoffe in London, England / Southbank Skatepark Photo 7 (Video Editing session) Me and Francisco Rosales @midnightnavy Photo 8 (Portrait of woman in the rain) Model: Lisa Scheepers @isaschprs in Utrecht, Netherlands portrait of me by Kamaryn Truong
