A beloved Toronto photojournalist died suddenly Thursday.
"Beloved" is so accurate. Every news photographer in Toronto knew and respected Mike.
A couple years ago, during a week-long sports event, the event's media people raffled off an iPad each day to the media in attendance (photographers, reporters, TV crews). It was meant as a thank-you for covering the event. At one of these daily draws, held in the media workroom, Mike's name was pulled from the hat (okay, it was a cardboard box).
When he went up to claim his iPad, Mike received a huge round of cheering and applause. The guy running the raffle later said that Mike was the only iPad winner during the week to be applauded and the event's media people were surprised at how loud and long the cheering lasted.
Longtime Sun photographer Veronica Henri called Cassese “the salt of the earth.”
“He was the best photographer in the city of Toronto who was always there for everyone,” Henri recalled. “There was nothing bad you could say about him — he worked every event so professionally.”
Mike routinely helped other photographers including those from competing papers and competing wire services.
At a tennis tournament, he took time to help "the competition" to understand the nuances of the game, where the best angles were, what lenses should be used in certain situations, how the players were likely to react, what feature pictures to look for and how to best edit. I made sure to eavesdrop on his conversation so I could learn more.
In a scrum situation, Mike would make sure photographers next to him had a vantage point and if they didn't, he'd move to accommodate them even when "them" was a competing photographer.
He always said that news photography was never a personal competition and that photographers (should) compete only on the picture.
No matter how "sideways" an event might go, Mike was always calm, collected and professional. He was1000% dependable and reliable, not only as a photographer who could always bring back the best pictures but also as a person who would always have time for a coffee and a chat.
Although Mike quit the Toronto Sun in 2001, he continued to have as many pictures published in the Sun as when he was employed there. Since the Sun subscribed to Reuters, Mike's pictures were published almost daily in the paper. It was common for the Sun sports section to be filled with Mike's pictures from yesterday's baseball, football, basketball or hockey game. And it wasn't just the Sun. All Toronto dailies (and other papers around the world) used his pictures frequently.
There's a reason why Mike covered World Series finals, Stanley Cup finals, Grey Cup games, championship golf, tennis championships, and various international events across the country. He really was that good.
Whenever a Reuters photographer from another country came into Toronto to help cover an event, such as the annual film festival, the first thing they'd ask is, "Where's Mike?" They relied on him to know the event and help organize the coverage.
Mike was known to turn down some big, out-of-town jobs because he didn't want to be away from his sons too long.
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There were a lot of rain delays at last year's Canadian mens tennis championship in Toronto. During one such delay, Mike had other photographers put on their rain coats and huddle under an umbrella in front of his laptop's webcam in the media room. He then video-called other photographer friends to show them what a "fun" time he was having at the rain-soaked tennis match.
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Mike always wanted to open a Tim Hortons franchise. Really. He thought it would be a great investment and perhaps a bunch of photographers could invest together in a store. At one point, he did look into buying a piece of vacant property in downtown Toronto, just one block away from the Toronto Sun. But once he saw the plus-million dollar cost of the property and franchise rights, the donut dream ended.
It's too bad because a donut shop at that location would've been perfect: a few years later, Toronto opened a large police station right across the street.
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His other idea was to set up a golf photography business to shoot professional and corporate golf tournaments. This would've combined two of his favourite things: photography and golf.
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Back in 1988, I did several G7 Summit events/protests with Mike. He knew how to "organize" coverage so that every event was photographed from the right locations so as to produce well-rounded coverage. Same thing when we did Toronto Indy races, Grey Cups and federal political leadership conventions.
For Mike, it was never just about getting pretty pictures. It was about producing proper news coverage and making sure all the important moments were shot.
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When I went to Florida to do baseball spring training, Mike gave me a detailed rundown on how spring training works, what pictures to look for, and what local restaurants I should visit.
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Whenever I had to shoot something weird, like golf, curling or cricket, I'd always ask Mike, "How do I shoot this?"
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At a tennis tournament in 2001(?), I was shooting a few matches for a feature which had no urgent deadline, so I didn't bring a laptop with me. But something changed and I needed to send a few pictures right away. Mike stopped working, got out of his chair and offered me his computer.
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Whenever I needed information for an upcoming event - where to get credentials, schedules, locations, etc. - I'd always ask Mike.
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Sat beside Mike for a few hours at a basketball game last week. We talked about cameras, the awfully loud music at the game, whether business was busy or slow (he said we should've opened a Tim Hortons franchise) and how the referees are always in the way.
Forgot to thank him for all his help over the past 25 years.
Topic: Sad news, Mike Cassese passes (Read 2792 times)