EAST SIDE MADE
By Alvin Rodriguez
Has someone ever asked where you’re from, and you say, “East Side San José”? Then comes the pause. Sometimes it’s curiosity. Sometimes, judgment. You can see it in their face, like they’re trying to figure out how someone like you came from there. I get it. The East Side has a reputation—gritty, loud, a little rough around the edges. But what they don’t see is the heart of it all.
Growing up on the East Side wasn’t about living up to someone else’s version of success. It was about pushing through in a world that didn’t expect much from you and proving them wrong. My childhood was full of memories—my friends and I skateboarding through the streets of the East Side, music bumping from strangers’ cars as they rolled by cruising, tamales in the winter, and weekend runs to the flea market.
It was culture. It was pride. It was home.
Today, no matter where I go—whether I’m managing teams or photographing real-life moments—I carry that East Side DNA.
It’s in my voice, work ethic, and how I see the world.
For me, photography became a way to give back. Through my lens, I tell the stories people overlook—stories of resilience, culture, and joy.
I’ve shot murals that turn alleyways into galleries, lowriders cruising down Story & King, and faces that hold generations of strength and history.
Every photo is a love letter to this place.
San José is changing. Fast. Gentrification is displacing the same families that built this community brick by brick. But the East Side doesn’t break. It adapts. It resists. It creates.
From the smell of pan dulce in the morning to the murals lighting up the streets of San José, the East Side is alive with soul. It’s not perfect, but it’s ours.
So when people ask me where I’m from, I don’t flinch.
I say it with pride, “East Side San José.
