about

Venezuelan–British artist, working between portraiture and documentary. My photographs are cinematic, bold, colourful and they live in that space where intimacy meets intention, where theatre sits beside testimony. Positive Notes has been a reminder of why I make images: to listen first, to build trust, and to turn collaboration into something people can step into.

I grew up in the 90s, right on the edge of analogue and the first home computers —shooting on film, cutting up magazines to make collages, then spending nights on early Windows screens. That mix shaped my eye: polished but imperfect, precise but human.

The site’s retro-desktop look is a nod to those beginnings — the draggable windows, pop-ups and cut-and-paste energy echo the way these stories were made, piece by piece, with care. Making this work, alongside young people and community voices, felt like coming full circle: using the tools that formed me to hold space for others, and letting their stories glow in full colour.

Welcome to Positive Notes - a photographic series and public artwork co-created by artist Joel Rodriguez and young people in Peterborough.

‍Our Positive Notes tile artworks are inspired by stories and conversations shared in workshops led by Joel Rodriguez with young people.

Together the tile series form an art trail that shines a light on Peterborough’s creative pulse and community pride, celebrating stories of community empowerment, carnival revival and youth voice.

This creative project is led by cultural organisation Metal Peterborough and supported by Historic England and Peterborough Positive.

Metal commissioned lead artist Joel Rodriguez, a Peterborough-based queer Venezuelan-British photographer and director. Working with Joel, groups of young people from Culture Community’s Saturday School and Families First Youth Group Crofts Corner in Bretton, led the creative direction of the project through conversations exploring what mattered to them, shared in photography and collage workshops, photoshoots and behind the scenes conversations.

The result has been the creation of an art trail of photographic tiles, each showcasing a different story of the city. From the revival of carnival in Peterborough after 40 years, to the personal story of a refugee who became a cultural leader, Positive Notes has uncovered the hidden gems of Peterborough’s history, discovering, celebrating and sharing stories that have been overlooked, stories of people, places and moments that give the city its unique vibe.

Positive Notes has been made possible by Historic England’s History in The Making grant, working with young people (aged 13 to 25) and funding 21 youth-led projects that create place markers across England. The project has also been supported by Peterborough Positive, the city's Business Improvement District (BID) campaign.

Metal is an arts organisation working at the intersection of art and social change. The way we work deeply within communities and on a national and international scale makes us unusual.

We currently have sites in Liverpool (since 2004), Peterborough (since 2012) and Southend-on-Sea (since 2007). We were invited to these places by local authorities, Arts Council England and other partners who shared our belief in art’s importance for community building. In the last ten years, we’ve supported over 11,000 artists, hosted over 110,000 participants and welcomed over 8 million audience members.

This involved making space for artists and creatives to dream, get together and create work; producing magical art events that showed our public spaces and landscape in a different light; convening networks that drove collective creative action and community; supporting new creative programmes, initiatives or organisations to get off the ground; and creating opportunities for people to have a say in art and culture where they live.

Since 2012, we’ve been working in Peterborough to support artists and create inspiring projects with communities and creatives. From one-to-one development chats and creative workshops, to talks, shared dinners, exhibitions, and pop-up reading rooms, there are plenty of ways to get involved.

Explore our ongoing programme here and sign up to our newsletter to stay up to date.

Positive Notes is funded by Historic England and Peterborough Positive, whose support made the development and delivery of the project possible.

With thanks to Hahnemühle for supporting the production of the photo prints, and to Queensgate for hosting the tiled artworks and providing a space to celebrate the project.

We are grateful to Culture Community and Family First for their collaboration, support, and work with the young people throughout the workshops and photoshoots. Special thanks to Farsh Raoufi, Precious Graham, Jenaya Scott, Shaun Patterson, Mohammed Jangher, Cherry Lester, and Ellie for their time, care, and contributions to the project.

Thank you to the young people—Kadence, Emma, Anam, Ripley, Sam and Jaela, who supported the photoshoots, and to all the young people who took part in the workshops and shoots. Huge thanks as well to Jess (makeup artist from Glow Up) for her brilliant support on set, Chris Palarama for his creative support and to Marcia at Envy Designs for collaborating with us.

With thanks to Anthony Ashley for documenting the project and capturing behind-the-scenes footage throughout. We also thank the volunteer fire brigade for generously allowing us to use their location.