Some moments are so vividly etched into your memory that you never forget them. For Manny Rodriguez it was the moment he realized he wanted to be a photographer. Born in Havana Cuba, and raised in Miami, he didn't pick up the camera until the age of 18 when he bought a Canon for no other reason other than boredom. a Canon FTB-n, which he purchased mail-order for 359.00, and that included a 50mm 1.4 lens, leather case, lens cleaning supplies, and three rolls of Kodachrome film with processing included!  

He became absolutely fascinated with the ability to capture a moment in time, or capture a subject, and keep it, take it with him. Then, the pivotal moment arrived; “I remember right around my 19th birthday, on a Sunday morning at exactly 9:05, standing on the south east side of the Miami River Bridge, me pointing the camera at the buildings downtown, saying to myself out loud, I have to make this a career.’ It was that simple,”  he says. 

He was hired by a studio several months later and worked his way up to Junior photographer over the next couple of years before going full-time freelance. 

In 1994, Manny relocated to Dallas, where he began specializing in shooting still life, food, and interiors.