Instagram: @kmr_archive
A native of New York City, Kimberly Rodriguez grew up immersed in the tempo of urban life. Her earliest artistic impulses emerged while riding the subway as a young observer—watching strangers in passing, light shifting between train cars, and the poetry of movement against steel and concrete.
Kimberly Rodriguez is a self-taught street photographer whose work explores the quiet gravity of life in motion. Rooted in the everyday yet elevated by her instinct for composition and timing, her photography captures fleeting human moments that might otherwise dissolve into the blur of the city.
Through the lens of the MTA system, she finds intimacy in distance—solitary figures beneath grand arches, reflected faces in streaked glass, and the choreography of people moving independently yet together. Her practice is driven by curiosity, empathy, and a desire to render stillness within chaos. By photographing public spaces like subway platforms and transit lines, Rodriguez creates not just documentation, but meditation.
Her work can be found on Instagram under @kmr_archive, where she continues to document her evolving relationship with the city.
Featured Works at Bushwick Gallery
1. By the Bridge
Archival pigment print on Moab Lasal Photo Matte 230
Framed in matte black | 16 × 24 in | 2019 | $800
A lone figure stands beneath the arched ceiling of 181st Street Station, dwarfed by architectural detail and soft pools of light. This piece captures the solitude and grandeur that coexist underground—a quiet nod to waiting, weight, and place.
2. The Person in the Window
Archival pigment print on Moab Lasal Photo Matte 230
Framed in matte black | 16 × 20 in | 2024 | $800
A candid study in reflection and presence. Two profiles appear in a train window—one in sharp white, the other as a soft shadow. Caught mid-journey, they become both subjects and symbols of movement, memory, and fleeting connection.
3. Commute
Archival pigment print on Moab Lasal Photo Matte 230
Framed in matte black | 16 × 20 in | 2024 | $800
This stark black-and-white image reveals an ordinary moment of passage with cinematic weight. The stark contrast of stairwells, signage, and a figure mid-scroll suggests a daily ritual transformed into visual poetry.
Exhibition Information
April 2025: “Urban Narratives: The City as Canvas”
Curated by: Fern Messa Joson
Theme: Turning the cityscape into a canvas, this exhibition captures the raw, vibrant energy of urban life through graffiti, street photography, painting, and more.
Exhibition Dates: April 3 – April 10, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday, April 3 | 6 PM – 8 PM
Guided audio experience
For accessibility, the full video transcript is provided below for those who prefer to read or are unable to listen.
“You’re looking at a photograph titled “The Person in the Window,” taken by Kimberly Rodriguez in 2024. At first glance, it may seem simple—a window, a train, a quiet scene—but pause for a moment, and let the layers unfold.
The image captures two figures: one clearly visible, wearing a white hat, facing forward; the other—less distinct—is a shadowed reflection. There’s a pane of rain-flecked glass between them and the viewer, blurring the boundary between interior and exterior, seen and unseen.
In this quiet composition, Kimberly invites us to reflect—literally and emotionally—on isolation, travel, and shared spaces. The subway becomes more than a setting; it’s a metaphor for life in motion. People pass each other by every day, absorbed in their own directions. Sometimes we notice, sometimes we don’t.
The mood is meditative, even cinematic. There’s no sense of urgency, only presence. The muted palette and soft light evoke a feeling of nostalgia—like a moment you’ve lived before, but can’t quite place.
Rodriguez’s gift lies in elevating the everyday. Through her lens, ordinary commutes become portraits of humanity. With “The Person in the Window,” she offers us a rare stillness in the rush of the city.”