Rodolfo Diaz – America North to South

 
 
Since there are so many different ways to approach photography it is really hard to tell what it is that makes a great photographer. Is it a feeling for the right light? Timing? The composition? An eye for details? At the same time it is quite easy to tell what it is that makes a great photo. A great photo makes you wish that you would have been at the place where the photo was taken, at the precise moment when it was taken. And that is exactly what Rodolfo Diaz’s photos do. They make you thankful that he was there to preserve these fragile moments in time, making them accessible today and tomorrow. Diaz is a documentalist, a man who searches the world for these microscopic and simultaneously epic moments that make up the human experience only to present them to us on a silver plate. He is not afraid to go where America is ugly, where things are unkempt and where live is rough. He travels to these places only to prove that no matter where you go, you can always find greatness. It might be well hidden, but it is always around you and it can be found if you are not afraid to get your hands dirty. But Diaz doesn’t have to create gold from dirt because to him all things are gold. Looking at his photos makes you understand that a photographer is not just someone who simply pushes a button. A photographer needs to understand the man, place or thing that she or he will ultimately immortalize. To be able to do so the photographer will always first have to establish a basis of trust and a bond with the subject. This requires time, sensitivity and an immense communicative talent. Maybe these emphatic skills are what makes a photographer great. And one thing is for sure: Rodolfo Diaz has skills for miles and miles.