Press & Published Work
Two decades of assignment and documentary work published across editorial, trade, and cultural press in the United States and Mexico. Selected credits below, alongside press coverage of the debut monograph Vochos Unidos.
Selected Publications
- The New York Times — The Kampong, Miami, July 2026
- WWD — Nahmias x Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, May 2026
- Harper's Bazaar — Yara Travieso and the Haas Brothers, Bass Museum, Art Basel 2018
- The New York Times Style Magazine: México — Feria Material Vol. 12, February 2026
- Reforma — El Cazador de Vochos, October 2017
- Interview Magazine — Raúl de Nieves at Faena, Art Basel 2018
- The Art Newspaper — IPC ArtSpace, 2024
- Miami Herald — Vizcaya Contemporary Arts Program, 2025
- El Heraldo de Aguascalientes — El Cazador de Vochos, October 2017
- Artburst Miami — Alejandro Piñeiro Bello at KDR (2026), Susanne Schirato at Vizcaya (2025), Nathalie Alfonso, No Vacancy Miami Beach
- Fraction Magazine — Issue 122
- Art Fluent — 2024
- Ocean Drive Magazine — 2015
- WSJ Custom Studios — MetLife, 2017
Feb '26
Vochos Unidos — Reviews & Features
The debut monograph, a five-year documentary project on Volkswagen Beetle culture across Mexico, published by Carrara Media in 2026. 300 pages, bilingual, hardcover, designed and printed in Mexico.
PhotoBook Journal — reviewed by Lee Halvorsen, who described the book as a delightful photographic journey through Mexico and praised the images as street photography at its best.
The New York Times Style Magazine: México — "Feria Material, un ecosistema propio," February 2026. Vocho En Llamas ran as the lead image for the fair feature.
Annenberg Media (USC) — photo essay on the Vochos Unidos launch and Cinco de Mayo celebration at Vintage Motor Union in Los Angeles, June 2026.
Carrara Media — author Q&A on technique, the vocheros, and the origins of the project, alongside the feature "5 Vochos that Perfectly Represent Mexico's Volkswagen Beetle Culture."
Endorsements from Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Patrick Farrell, automotive photographer Larry Chen, author Victoria Scott, and Professor Oliver Wang of California State University Long Beach. Farrell called the book "a visual road trip through Mexico and the unstoppable human spirit."
May '26
WWD —Nahmias x Formula 1
Photography of the Nahmias x Formula 1 pop-up at the Miami Design District, published in WWD's coverage of the fashion activations surrounding the 2026 Miami Grand Prix weekend. The collaboration between the Los Angeles menswear label and Formula 1 featured three-time World Drivers' Champion Sir Jackie Stewart as the face of the campaign. The article was syndicated to Yahoo.
Read: WWD, May 2026 →
wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/2026-miami-grand-prix-formula-1-activations-fashion-beauty-1238930678/
Jul '26
Artburst Miami — Gallery & Museum Documentation
Ongoing exhibition photography published by Artburst Miami, a nonprofit arts-journalism outlet supported by the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs.
"Between Image and Memory: Alejandro Piñeiro Bello's ECOS" — May 2026. Installation and artwork photography for the Cuban painter's solo exhibition at KDR, Miami, illustrating the full feature including the lead image. Works pictured include Tres Lindas Cubanas, Adiós a Cuba, and El Abrazo del Mar. Credit: Photo by Rodrigo Gaya, courtesy of KDR, Miami.
"Rooted in Motion: Susanne Schirato's Headwind at Vizcaya" — December 2025. Documentation of the site-specific installation of hand-dyed windsocks on the Lower East Terrace, commissioned through Vizcaya Museum and Gardens' Contemporary Arts Program and curated by Helena Gomez.
Credit: Photo by Rodrigo Gaya, courtesy of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.
"No Vacancy, Miami Beach" — Coverage of the citywide hotel art program of Nathalie Alfonso's BayScape at the International Inn on the Bay. Credit: Photos by RodrigoGaya.com/Gayaman Visual Studio LLC.
Jul '26
The New York Times - The Kampong Editorial
Photography by Rodrigo Gaya Villar for The Kampong, featured in a national roundup of American botanical gardens published July 2026.The New York Times Travel section, The Miami section spotlights The Kampong in Coconut Grove — the only National Tropical Botanical Garden in the mainland United States. The eight-acre garden was founded by botanist David Fairchild.
Read: The New York Times, July 20, 2026 → nytimes.com/2026/07/20/travel/botanical-gardens-us-cities.html
Feb '21
Beyond Van Gogh — National & International Press
Photographs from the Miami installation, produced for Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience (Paquin Entertainment Group / Normal Studio) and distributed through the exhibition's press kit. The images were published across US broadcast, public radio, and international press throughout the 2021–2024 tour, which sold more than three million tickets.
Outlets include WMAR-2 (ABC Baltimore), WGRZ (NBC Buffalo), WUWM 89.7 FM (NPR Milwaukee), First Coast News (NBC Jacksonville), and GlasgowWorld, which used the images to announce the exhibition's Scottish debut in 2024.
Credit line: Rodrigo Gaya Villar / Gayaman Visual Studio for Beyond.
2005-2015
Archive & Early Work
The Michigan Daily, 2005–2009 — staff photographer and Managing Photo Editor, directing a staff of ten. Work is preserved in the digitized Michigan Daily collection at the University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library, including a January 2008 photoessay from Michigan's Capital One Bowl win over Florida, credited Rodrigo Gaya/Daily.
Michigan Radio (NPR), 2010 — news photography, stock footage, and multimedia production.
World Red Eye, 2011–2015 — approximately 390 published credits across culture, nightlife, fashion, and Art Basel Miami Beach coverage. Assignments include the de la Cruz Collection panel with Pritzker Prize laureates Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers, Glenn Murcutt, and Thom Mayne, moderated by architecture critic Paul Goldberger.