The story behind the studio.

A Mexican photographer. A studio built together. A space for people building a life away from home.

A woman with dark hair and earrings is sitting on a sofa, holding a cup of coffee with her right hand, while her left arm rests on her knee. She is looking to her right with her chin resting on her hand, wearing a watch and a bracelet. The background features a light-colored curtain.

Nicole Rodríguez

Photographer. Guadalajara → Bern.

I grew up in Guadalajara in a house where my dad always had music on — Louis Armstrong, Bebel Gilberto, Pink Martini, Billy Joel at full volume on a Saturday.

My mom made everything around her more beautiful without trying. Three sisters. A lot of laughing. I think I got the creative side from her and the "let's make this into a business" side from him. I've spent most of my adult life trying to figure out how to use both at the same time.

I studied advertising and PR, then a master's in photography at IED in Madrid, then an MBA, worked in brand management for a while. It was good — until it wasn't. One day I realized I was spending my best hours building someone else's story. So I stopped. Juan (my handsome husband) and I found a space in Bern, and decided to build Sedona, without knowing how, with both our hands, nothing else.

That's the short version.The longer one involves a lot of cities, one crazy border collie named Gala, and more Olivia Dean than is probably healthy.

"I notice how people look at each other. The way someone's shoulders drop when they finally feel seen. I believe beauty lives in all of us — it just needs the right light.

A STUDIO

Built together

Everyone else saw a dirty old room with problems. I saw the studio.

I couldn't explain it at the time — just that the light came through the windows in a way that made me stop, and I knew. Juan looked at the same space, looked at me, and said okay. That kind of trust is not small.

We spent months in there together. I cleaned, painted every wall, every pipe, every door, every ceiling. I designed the whole space — every material choice, every corner, every decision about what goes where and why. Juan did the ceiling structure, the floors, the electrics, the cyclorama system, the lighting rails. Things I couldn't have done without him, things he wouldn't have known to do without me.

We lowered lamps together at midnight. We argued about the wall color three times. We got it right on a Tuesday at 11pm when neither of us said anything for a minute.

Every wall in this studio has been touched by both of us. That's what makes it feel the way it does when you walk in. You can't manufacture that.

Sedona started as my vision. It exists because of both of us.

Black and white photo of a young man with curly hair and light facial hair, wearing a light-colored sweater.
Black and white portrait of a man smiling with closed eyes, wearing a light-colored sweater.
A black and white portrait of a man sitting on a chair against a plain background. He has dark, curly hair and a beard, and is wearing a light-colored sweater and jeans. He rests his chin on his hand and smiles gently at the camera.
A woman with dark hair wearing a black top, a white skirt, and sandals, standing in a bright room, looking out the window, with a small wooden table with a candle on it in the background.

More than a studio.

A creative space.

Photography is where Sedona begins. But it was never the whole vision. The space was designed to hold more — workshops, community dinners, creative conversations. A place in Bern where people building a life away from home can find their people.

There's something particular about being an expat. You arrive in a new city and the task of building a social world from scratch can feel impossible. Sêdona is for those people. For anyone who believes that creativity is how you find your community.

Coming soon:

Photography . Floral Arrangement. Ceramics. Journaling. Wine & Jazz. Yoga. Community Dinners . Creative Talks

See What Happens Here