SOPHIA
WHAT’S IT TO YA?
Sophia Gutierrez is a freelance photographer whose work is shaped by football, family, and culture. Introduced to the game at a young age, her rooted connection comes from growing up surrounded by it, with her family playing a central role in her love for the sport. Now working behind the lens, she channels her creativity and passion into capturing the beautiful game, turning it into something both personal and widely felt.
How did you first find football?
I grew up playing because of my dad and my brother. My dad is Salvadorian, so it’s a big part of Latino culture to just love football. I feel like it’s in our blood. I started playing when I was four years old, just in house league, and my dad was my coach. He was always training me in the field behind our house, bringing me to The Hangar here to watch my older brothers’ games. And yeah, I grew up just loving it, being around it, having my dad watch Premier League games on the weekend. Just being around footy all the time.
What do you love most about the game?
What I love most about footy is that there are so many things you can take away for your life — whether you’re a competitive player or a non-competitive player. It brings you so many connections with people. You can make friends, you can find people who help you in all areas of your life. Also, just the feeling I get from playing, I feel like it’s ingrained in who I am because I started playing so young.
How did you first find football?
I grew up playing because of my dad and my brother. My dad is Salvadorian, so it’s a big part of Latino culture to just love football. I feel like it’s in our blood. I started playing when I was four years old, just in house league, and my dad was my coach. He was always training me in the field behind our house, bringing me to The Hangar here to watch my older brothers’ games. And yeah, I grew up just loving it, being around it, having my dad watch Premier League games on the weekend. Just being around footy all the time.
What do you love most about the game?
What I love most about footy is that there are so many things you can take away for your life — whether you’re a competitive player or a non-competitive player. It brings you so many connections with people. You can make friends, you can find people who help you in all areas of your life. Also, just the feeling I get from playing, I feel like it’s ingrained in who I am because I started playing so young.
How did you get to start supporting Real Madrid?
So, my dad was always watching soccer with my older brother, and he really loved the Galactico era of Real Madrid. That was when Beckham, R9, like the whole team was just stacked, right? And there was that, midfielder Gutierrez, right? JM Guti, and he was always watching him because he has the same name as him. My dad’s name was Jose Gutierrez, and he was always telling me, ‘Look, it’s in our blood, it’s in our name.’ You have a player playing for the biggest club in the world, with our name, and it just always stuck with me. I remember being 7 or 8 years old seeing clips of him with Zidane and all the other guys on Real Madrid and just being like ‘Oh my God, this is magic’. They looked like superheroes to me.
How did you parlay your love for the sport into a career in Football?
I grew up playing competitively, and there came a time when my dad passed away when I was a teenager, so I really wanted to stay connected with the sport of soccer ‘cause it was kind of like my way to keep him alive, within my family as well. My brother was always bringing me to games, training me when he could, and it was just part of keeping him alive.
I wanted to pursue something related to sports, so I studied kinesiology in university, and I always knew I wanted to stay in sports. But I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. So when COVID hit, I was in my second year of university, and I got my first camera. I kind of just got it because I wanted to do what my dad was doing, taking pictures of our family and nature. So I did that, and it didn’t really click in my head to try sports until a few years later, when I met my boyfriend and he encouraged me to take pictures of soccer players, him and his friends just for fun.
The first time I shot in a big venue, something just clicked in my head that this is just magic. It’s so nice to be able to appreciate different players for their skills and highlight them in their best moments, and, yeah, I just fell in love with it in that sense.
So, my dad was always watching soccer with my older brother, and he really loved the Galactico era of Real Madrid. That was when Beckham, R9, like the whole team was just stacked, right? And there was that, midfielder Gutierrez, right? JM Guti, and he was always watching him because he has the same name as him. My dad’s name was Jose Gutierrez, and he was always telling me, ‘Look, it’s in our blood, it’s in our name.’ You have a player playing for the biggest club in the world, with our name, and it just always stuck with me. I remember being 7 or 8 years old seeing clips of him with Zidane and all the other guys on Real Madrid and just being like ‘Oh my God, this is magic’. They looked like superheroes to me.
How did you parlay your love for the sport into a career in Football?
I grew up playing competitively, and there came a time when my dad passed away when I was a teenager, so I really wanted to stay connected with the sport of soccer ‘cause it was kind of like my way to keep him alive, within my family as well. My brother was always bringing me to games, training me when he could, and it was just part of keeping him alive.
I wanted to pursue something related to sports, so I studied kinesiology in university, and I always knew I wanted to stay in sports. But I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. So when COVID hit, I was in my second year of university, and I got my first camera. I kind of just got it because I wanted to do what my dad was doing, taking pictures of our family and nature. So I did that, and it didn’t really click in my head to try sports until a few years later, when I met my boyfriend and he encouraged me to take pictures of soccer players, him and his friends just for fun.
The first time I shot in a big venue, something just clicked in my head that this is just magic. It’s so nice to be able to appreciate different players for their skills and highlight them in their best moments, and, yeah, I just fell in love with it in that sense.
Where do you think photography will take you, or where do you want it to take you?
I think growing up, I was always a daydreamer. I was very creative, but I had no outlet for it. It was really drilled into my head from a young age, being the eldest daughter of immigrant parents, that you have to find a good career, you have to do what’s best for your family, and education was what they were telling me was best.
I had a very narrow perspective of what my career and what my adult life was going to look like. Just a regular job, probably in healthcare, but that creative side of me was always something I wanted to have an outlet for. It was something always calling out to me. So I think that’s why I enjoy collecting jerseys. I enjoy art. I was always a daydreamer, right? That was something that’s always been in the back of my head. Dreaming of adventure, of going to big soccer games in the future, but I never really had the money or the opportunity to do it because my family wasn't that privileged.
Photography just opened up a completely different world to me. I’ve been seeing different people in my community going to different games, on the world stage, in bigger stadiums, and I realized that’s something I could do. That I have that talent in me if I just keep pursuing it and trying my best, people are going to call out. Luckily, I’ve been really fortunate, and a lot of opportunities have been coming my way. I haven’t really had to go out and look for them, so I feel like I’m on a good path because things are just kind of coming to me.
I think growing up, I was always a daydreamer. I was very creative, but I had no outlet for it. It was really drilled into my head from a young age, being the eldest daughter of immigrant parents, that you have to find a good career, you have to do what’s best for your family, and education was what they were telling me was best.
I had a very narrow perspective of what my career and what my adult life was going to look like. Just a regular job, probably in healthcare, but that creative side of me was always something I wanted to have an outlet for. It was something always calling out to me. So I think that’s why I enjoy collecting jerseys. I enjoy art. I was always a daydreamer, right? That was something that’s always been in the back of my head. Dreaming of adventure, of going to big soccer games in the future, but I never really had the money or the opportunity to do it because my family wasn't that privileged.
Photography just opened up a completely different world to me. I’ve been seeing different people in my community going to different games, on the world stage, in bigger stadiums, and I realized that’s something I could do. That I have that talent in me if I just keep pursuing it and trying my best, people are going to call out. Luckily, I’ve been really fortunate, and a lot of opportunities have been coming my way. I haven’t really had to go out and look for them, so I feel like I’m on a good path because things are just kind of coming to me.
