Behind The Lens

My name is Shayra Arocho and my story didn’t begin behind a camera. My background is in engineering, a world of structure, precision, and problem-solving, but creativity has always been part of who I am.

Growing up, my father filled my world with art and music. Through him, I learned to appreciate creativity, expression, and the beauty hidden in the smallest details. Life eventually took me in a different direction. I built a career, chased goals, and reached milestones I’m incredibly proud of. But somewhere along the way, I began to miss something I couldn’t quite name: the simple joy of creating.

Funny enough, my husband may have recognized it before I did. He gave me a camera, perhaps knowing it would fill a space in me that had been waiting to be rediscovered. Neither of us knew then just how meaningful that gift would become.

Watching my son grow up through sports gave me a reason to pick up that camera again and again. What began as a way to preserve his childhood from the sidelines slowly became a way to reconnect with the creative side of myself. My daughter reminds me that the stories worth preserving aren’t only found on the field, they’re also in the everyday moments, the milestones, and the fleeting pieces of childhood I wish I could hold onto forever.

Somewhere along the way, photography became more than documenting games or taking pictures. It became my way of slowing time, of holding onto a season, a feeling, a childhood, and the pieces of a story that seem to pass far too quickly.

Once, my father inspired the artist in me. Today, my children inspire the storyteller.

And somehow, through the lens of a camera, I found my way back to a part of myself I didn’t realize how much I had missed.