Lenscratch Art + Science

Kyra Rodriguez is a photographer from Sanford, NC. She has been behind the camera for 30 years. It has only been in the last decade that she has been able to dedicate more time to the craft and hone her skills.

Kyra has done personal portfolios for grants and submissions. Her work is eclectic and boasts travel, landscape, conceptual and subject matter relating to equine and automobile photography. She has also worked with macro photography and film.

Her professional portfolio consists of event photography, ranging from "not for profit" work for local organizations to concerts. She works on weddings, portrait and family photography. Since 2022, Kyra has begun to pivot to more industry and business related imagery and branding.

As of April of 2024, Kyra made the plunge to return to college and finish her BFA in photography, this is something she started at Montana State University in 1989. She is looking to graduate from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2026. She hopes to synthesize her broad photographic experience into a coherent and eloquent portfolio. Kyra's goal upon finally finishing her degree is to work on portfolios that continue to push her skills and engage her audience, bringing awareness to environmental and socio-economic issues in new ways that combat media fatigue.

This portfolio is very close to my heart. The images were mostly collected during a cross country trip back home to Montana. The trip came with a few intentions. The First being that I wanted to share with my kids the vastness of our country, its beauty and the changes not only in the color pallet and topography but also the people, how they live and the variety of priorities from our comfy little town of Sanford, NC, steeped in southern habits and economy to the agricultural plains and on into the mountains.

My family has always had, as my mother would say "pata de perro", the translation is "leg of the dog", which translates to essentially, wanderlust or just a bug for traveling and especially driving. I wanted to document those environmental changes that are best seen from the ground. Often details easily missed.

Upon our return, I was pleased with what was captured. I knew I wanted to make a series addressing climate and environmental issues. the effects of man, from the blatant refineries and high tension power lines to the old irrigation gates. I rounded out my series with a few images from Wilson, NC.

Developing images with a certain "nuclear" style, using my tonal curves in Lightroom, gave those images a voice they would not have with a standard process. Each image speaks of the dire situation we are in. Addressing water issues, pollution, people movements (highways, airplanes), living conditions and effects. The first image in the series, 'STOP' was a serendipitous and organic find... a pull off for gas... before getting back on the road, somewhere out west... Nebraska? Wyoming? The environmental issues reside there as well.