Anthony Basil Rodriguez is a New York-born independent photographer and filmmaker. Since childhood he has been oriented toward a range of visual worlds. As a teenager, Anthony began to carry around an old film camera that his younger brother had lying around from a school project. Eventually taking his hobby more seriously, Anthony obtained a job pushing carts in order to buy his first digital camera. One day after a thunderstorm he was discovered by a local news station knee-deep in floodwaters collecting photos of the aftermath. He spent the following three years submerged in live television, editing daily newscasts. During this time, he honed and developed a true eye and skill for editing, videography and ultimately storytelling. Since leaving the news industry Anthony has continued to push his craft, interlacing realms of photography, video and film. This work continues to bring Anthony around the world in pursuit of research and documentation of rare plants, disparate peoples and the flux of global society. One of his current projects, Growing Back to Nature, really caught my attention as it features foragers, citizen mycologists and seekers who are trying to carve out a future path based around a more holistic connection with our planet and what it is live more in tune with natural systems.   

TOPICS COVERED:   

• Anthony Discovers a Talent for Visual Media  
• Breaking into Television News Production  
• Childhood Passion for Plants  
• Ethnobotanical Adventures  
• Bananas – The Fruit that Changed the World  
• Worldwide Cultural Influence of the Banana  
• The Jamaican Banana King  
• How Traveling Extensively Changes Us  
• “Growing Back to Nature” Docuseries  
• Influence of William Padilla-Brown  
• Wasteland Rebel and Zero Waste Lifestyle  
• Changes in the Art & Craft of Film in the Social Media Age  
• Power of Storytelling to Shape Society  
• Getting Our Sh** Together Could be Fun  

EPISODE RESOURCES:   

• Anthony Rodriguez Website: https://anthonybrodriguez.com/  
• Anthony Rodriguez IG: https://www.instagram.com/revofthought/   
• Growing Back to Nature Website: https://growingbacktonature.com/  
• Growing Back to Nature IG: https://www.instagram.com/growingbacktonature/  
• "Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World" (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Banana-Fate-Fruit-Changed-World/dp/0452290082  
• "Conquest of the Tropics" (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Conquest-Tropics-Creative-Enterprises-Conducted/dp/0342184768  
• "When the Banana was King" (Book): https://www.amazon.com/When-Banana-Was-King-Jamaican/dp/9768202238  
• William Padilla-Brown Website: https://www.mycosymbiotics.net/  
• Reishi (Mushroom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingzhi_(mushroom)