Born in Portugal and raised in turbulent times under the rule of António de Oliveira Salazar, Rodrigues fled abroad in 1968 when all the men had to fight in the army to retain Angola and Moçambique as colonies of Portugal.

He studied photography in the Netherlands, in The Hague (1975–80) and in Apeldoorn (1975–1979), at De School voor Fotografie, and took a video course at the Santbergen Institute in Hilversum (1989).

Rodrigues was the co-founder of Perspektief – Art Foundation, and responsible for programming the exhibitions of the gallery.

Rodrigues taught photography at several institutions and national and foreign schools (Rotterdam, Porto, Évora, Caldas de Rainha).

Since 2009 he is the invited assistant professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Évora.