Today we’d like to introduce you to Roberto Martinez.
Hi Roberto, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My story with photography began long before it became my profession and a business. I was born and raised in Cuba, where I graduated from the San Alejandro National Academy of Fine Arts and also trained as a visual arts teacher. Art has always been an essential part of my life, and photography already held a very important place in my artistic work.
In fact, my graduation thesis at San Alejandro focused on photography. At that time, my work was very different from the photography I create professionally today. It was much more conceptual, created primarily as fine art for exhibitions and galleries. During those years, I received several awards and recognitions from art galleries in Cuba for my photographic work.
One of the artistic experiences that most profoundly shaped my life was participating in a project called Bocetos para un Archipiélago (Sketches for an Archipelago). The project involved literally walking across Cuba from one end of the island to the other for three months and three days, from Cabo de San Antonio in the far west to Punta de Maisí in the far east.
During those three months and three days, I experienced a Cuba that would be difficult to discover in any other way. That journey profoundly changed the way I thought, the way I saw my country, the way I understood myself as a Cuban, and ultimately the way I viewed life. Being in direct contact with its landscapes, towns, people, realities and contrasts had a lasting influence on my artistic vision.
That journey taught me that an image can be much more than something beautiful. It can carry identity, memory, place, history and emotion.
After graduating, I continued developing my career in the arts. I taught art appreciation, participated in different artistic projects, and eventually worked as the director of an important art gallery in Cuba.
Years later, I made one of the most difficult decisions of my life: coming to the United States. In doing so, I left practically everything behind. I left my mother, my brother and the rest of my family in Cuba. I arrived in this country with only $200, not knowing exactly how I was going to begin a new life.
From the very beginning, I took whatever work I could find to support myself. At the time, I did not yet have the legal status that would allow me to pursue the professional career I had spent years preparing for, so I did what I had to do: I worked, moved forward and started again from zero, while waiting until I became eligible to regularize my immigration status.
One of the hardest parts of those early years was being separated from my family. While I was trying to build a new life in the United States, I always carried with me the absence of my mother and my brother and the hope that one day we could all be together again. With time and by the grace of God, that dream fortunately became a reality, and today we are all here together.
That is why I feel such a profound sense of gratitude toward the United States. This is the country I arrived in with only $200, and it gave me the opportunity to start again, to work, to build my family and, little by little, to create the life and business I have today. Years later, I also had the privilege of becoming a United States citizen, something that holds a very special meaning for me and for which I will always be deeply grateful.
Once I obtained my residency, I was able to begin rebuilding my professional career and return to the world of art. That is when I had the opportunity to work at The Art Shack, an art school in Doral, Miami. I learned a great deal there, particularly about working with children, guiding them creatively and connecting with families. It also gave me the opportunity to meet many people within the art community.
But there is a very personal part of my story that had actually begun many years earlier in Cuba. While I was teaching art appreciation, one of my students was a young woman named Yeneisy Cruz. At the time, neither of us could have imagined what the future had in store for us. Our paths separated, and we each continued with our own lives.
Approximately ten years later, through one of those unexpected coincidences in life, we met again in Miami. From that reunion, we eventually began building a life together and started our family.
Yeneisy would also become one of the most important forces behind the creation of ROYE Photography. She saw that I could use my artistic education and experience to build something of my own. She was the person who encouraged me to stop working only for others and take the chance of creating my own business.
After the birth of our first child, we decided to leave Miami in search of new opportunities and a different environment for our family. We came to Jacksonville and especially appreciated the quieter pace of the city compared with Miami, so we decided to make Jacksonville our home.
As our family continued to grow, there was a period when I dedicated much of my time to caring for our children while Yeneisy worked as a treatment coordinator at a dental practice. I also took different jobs during that period until one day she again insisted on something she had been telling me for a long time: it was time for me to use everything I knew and build my own business.
That is how ROYE Photography began — very simply, from our own home.
We did not start with a large studio, a huge investment or any guarantee that it would succeed. We started with what we had. Little by little, families began trusting me with their photographs. One client recommended us to another, our name began to spread, and the business continued to grow.
My background in fine arts has always influenced the way I approach photography. For me, photography has never been simply about creating a beautiful picture. I think about composition, color, lighting, storytelling and, most importantly, what I want an image to make someone feel. The artistic foundation that began in Cuba is still present in my work every day.
Eventually, ROYE Photography grew to the point where it could support our family. That became another important moment for us because I was finally able to tell my wife, “Now it’s your turn to pursue what you want.” Yeneisy began preparing for a career in real estate and later built her own professional career in Jacksonville.
ROYE Photography continued growing from our home, but eventually we realized that we needed a professional space that would allow us to take our ideas much further. We spent nearly two years searching for a location with the space and potential we needed until we found our current studio on San Jose Boulevard in Jacksonville.
There, we were finally able to build the professional studio we had imagined for years.
As our quinceañera photography continued to grow, we also realized that we could provide families with a much more complete experience. That led us to expand the business by opening a boutique offering quinceañera and prom gowns, as well as crowns and other accessories.
Today, we work with clients from many different nationalities and cultures, both from Jacksonville and beyond. What began as a very small family business inside our home has grown into something much bigger than we could have imagined when we started.
Even the name ROYE tells our story. “RO” comes from Roberto, my name, and “YE” comes from Yeneisy, my wife. So ROYE Photography has never been only my project. From its very name, it represents both of us and the family we have built together.
When I look back, I see a story shaped by art, immigration, family, sacrifice and the ability to begin again. I arrived in the United States with $200, leaving behind my mother, my brother and practically everything I knew. Today, I have the privilege of being a United States citizen, of making a living through art again, of creating alongside my family and of using photography to tell the stories of other families.
And perhaps that is the most important connection between the artist I was in Cuba and the photographer I am today:
I still believe a photograph should do more than show what someone looks like. A great image should also tell you who they are, where they come from and the story they carry with them.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has definitely not been easy. There is a part of my story that many people may not know, and it can be difficult to imagine if you have never lived through a similar experience.
I came to the United States from Cuba at the age of 33, coming from a completely different reality. I had never had a credit card. I did not understand how the financial system worked in this country. Things that may seem completely normal to many people—going to a supermarket and understanding how to shop, crossing a large avenue, or simply driving a car—were things I had to learn.
When you immigrate, you are not simply changing countries. In many ways, you have to learn how to live all over again. You have to understand a new culture, a new system, and a new way of doing almost everything.
Then came another challenge: building my own business from the ground up. I had to learn how the industry worked, earn the trust of each client, and constantly adapt to changes in photography, social media, technology, editing, and now artificial intelligence.
But all of those obstacles also taught me something that I still carry with me today: when you truly want to achieve something and you are willing to work for it, you can accomplish so much.
For me, the United States has been a country of opportunity. Not because the road is easy, but because I have had the opportunity to work, learn, grow, and turn ideas that once seemed very far away into reality.
And perhaps that is why I continue to dream and create new projects. Because once you have started from zero, you learn that obstacles do not necessarily determine how far you can go.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My work goes far beyond simply taking photographs. I am a photographer and creative director, and for many years I have specialized primarily in quinceañera photography, creating productions where every session is designed to tell a story and provide a unique experience.
At ROYE Photography, I do not like to follow the same formula over and over again. I enjoy developing concepts, finding locations, designing sets, and combining photography, fashion, editing, and new technologies to transform an idea into an image. Many times, a session begins with a simple idea and eventually becomes a complete production.
An important part of our work is also on-location photography. We have photographed quinceañeras at iconic locations in St. Augustine, Downtown Jacksonville, Savannah, Sarasota, and other destinations. For us, these sessions almost become a small travel experience.
Because we are familiar with many of the locations where we work, throughout the session we share information with the quinceañera and her family about the location, its history, its architecture, and what makes it special. This way, the family not only takes home beautiful photographs; they also experience and learn about the place where those photographs were created. I like to think of it as a visual, historical, and artistic journey through photography.
Another thing that sets us apart is that we do not expect a quinceañera to arrive knowing how to pose or feeling like a model. We guide her, help her feel confident and comfortable, and make sure she enjoys the entire experience. We want her to remember not only what her photographs looked like, but also how she felt on the day we created them.
I am especially proud of having built a business from the ground up into a studio that families trust with such an important moment in their daughters’ lives. At the same time, we have never stopped evolving. We travel, search for new ideas, study new trends, and incorporate new technologies when they genuinely add something creative to our work, while always preserving the natural beauty and essence of photography.
And this is only the beginning. We are currently developing new international projects that will take our photography and our way of telling stories to other parts of the world. These are projects that we will be revealing in the future.
If I had to summarize what sets us apart, I would say that we do not simply want to deliver beautiful photographs. We want to create an experience and tell a story that the quinceañera and her family will remember for a lifetime.
That is why our philosophy at ROYE Photography can be summarized in one phrase:
“We don’t create photos… we create stories.”
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Something I wish I had understood earlier is that talent alone is not enough to build a business. You have to learn how to work with people, listen to your clients, manage your finances, promote your work, and, above all, learn how to adapt. The world is constantly changing, and so is our industry.
There is also something I consider essential: never stop learning. Even today, I continue to study, experiment with new technologies, follow new trends, and look for different ways to create. The day you think you already know everything is probably the day you stop growing.
Finally, don’t be afraid to start small. I started from zero too. What matters is not where you begin, but how much you are willing to work, learn, and persevere to get where you want to be.
If I could say something to the person I was when I first started, it would be: trust your ideas more, be patient, and keep moving forward. Some of the things that seem impossible today may one day become part of your story.
Pricing:
- Custom quinceañera photography collections are available. Please contact ROYE Photography for current packages and pricing.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www://royeartphotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/royephotography?igsi=MTFkbjcwMmNhanNsZg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1HcNHniHX4/?mibextid=wwXIfr
