If you were at CocoWalk on a recent Saturday afternoon, you might have seen a small group of women strolling with their camera gear, snapping photos of everything in sight.
They were almost all in their 20s and 30s. Some wore boots. Several sported tattoos on wrists, legs and arms. One had her hair pulled back and dyed black burgundy.
The women are part of a community outreach group called the Photo Walk that includes local photographers who gather once or twice a month to capture images in various Miami-Dade neighborhoods like Wynwood, downtown Miami and South Beach.
A group of six women got together at Planta restaurant for a meet and greet, then ventured off to Books and Books, Chill-N Nitrogen IceCream, Fireman Derek’s Bake Shop, and many more places to capture images.
“It’s very walkable and that’s what I love about the Grove,” said Claudia Moreno, 25, a local photographer. “ You could just easily photograph strangers, maybe ask, maybe don’t.”
Moreno is familiar with Coconut Grove because she used to roam the area with friends, going to different places like the movie theater in Cocowalk, Cinépolis. She even remembered a place off McFarlane Road that used to be called New York Roma Pizza. It’s now known as Groovy’s.
The theme of Saturday’s walk was female empowerment. Indeed Moreno called the photo walk on Saturday a safe space for female photographers to get together and share moments and stories.
“It’s just comfortable for women to just talk and photograph each other,” said Moreno.
The photo walks have been taking place since 2019. The concept was born when Paola Katherine Rodriguez and her late husband, Jonnie Sparko, came up with the idea of hosting an event that would gather different styles of photographers to learn from one another.
In May 2019 Rodriguez and Sparko executed their plan and started visiting places such as Lincoln Road and Art Basel with other local photographers. The pandemic stopped those meetings in January 2020.
Sparko, who was battling cancer, died in 2021. Rodriguez filmed his final days, but then stopped photographing for a while.
“I just couldn’t even pick up a camera,” she said.
With the help of others, Rodriguez revitalized Photo Walk this year. Doing so helped her cope with the loss of her husband and created an environment where she could express herself with others who also loved photography.
So far this year, they have revisited Wynwood, South Beach and downtown.
Rather than just choose a place, Rodriguez decided to stage a walk just for women in June. The spark for this came at a prior photo walk, when a male had uttered hurtful words to a woman.
“Photography is so male-driven, male-dominant.” said Rodriguez. “It’s something I’ve been working on how to fight or how to deconstruct the male gaze.”
Alix Wilson, 35, attended the walk where the male-female conflict occurred. She was excited to attend the first women’s empowerment photo walk in the Grove, where she had grown up with her mother on El Prado Boulevard.
She described the Grove as a nature preserve area where there’s a lot of sightseeing for photographers to explore and enjoy.
The professional nanny and lash tech said she enjoys taking abstract, beautified portraits of her friends, family and children. She also shoots pictures of her clients’ lashes for her social media profile on Instagram.
One of the pictures she took Saturday included a two-toned pitbull mix sticking its head out of a car window in front of Cocowalk. The dog paused, turned, and looked straight at the camera when Wilson passed.
“The Grove means a lot to me,” she said. “ I love walking in this neighborhood and taking pictures.”
Photo Walk is hosting another event in Wynwood for Pride Month on June 11. This time male photographers are welcome. Details of the event can be found on Eventbrite.
This story was produced by a Caplin News student in conjunction with the Coconut Grove Spotlight.
