[Q] How do I root without having to factor reset?? Don't want to lose photos.. HELP!!

So I've been looking for a solution for the past 2 months now it is SO frustrating. Anyway so...

I own a LG Nexus 5 (non rooted), and I've been using this photo app called VSCOcam solely as my phone camera for the last 2 years, and I've taken thousands and thousands of photos with it. The phone has been amazing for the last 2 years but it is time for an upgrade.

So I went to backup my phone and realized that VSCOcam had screwed me... The app has its own internal library so unless you "export" the photos, they are not accessible in /sdcard. Someone in XDA forums had the app and told me that the photos are stored inside "/data/data/com.vsco.cam/files/images" and unless I root I wont have access.
Now heres the cycle of stupidness which I think you all can guess. In order to root -> I need to unlock my bootloader, and to unlock my bootloader -> I need to factory reset!

I've tried just about everything to root my phone without factory resetting, so far none has succeeded.I contacted the devs for VSCOcam and they told me to highlight the photos individually and export... are you kidding me??

What should I do? Should I just bite the bullet and lose ALL MY PHOTOS?? The app is currently listed as 12gb in size thats so heartbreaking!!!

TL;DR - VSCOcam hid thousands of photos in "/data/data/com.vsco.cam/files/images" which is unreachable without root, and to root means to factory reset my phone wiping all the photos I'm trying to get in the first place...