The TOPhotoGuy Story, an Autobiography
by Mike Sheehan.
 

All characters in this story are based on actual people.  Only the dates
are questionable to protect myself.
All rights to this story belong to Mike Sheehan (the TOPhotoGuy) and his
family.   Heaven forbid I die in the next year. :)
 
The story begins,
 
It all began in a little 5,000 watt radio station outside of Scarborough,
Ontario, Canada.
 
No, wait, that's Ted Baxter. ;)
 
Actualllllllly,  It all began in East York, Ontario, Canada.   The year
was 1952.  I remember it well. No, wait, I don't.
 
Anyways.........
 
I guess my first contact of women's bodybuilding came the year, a brash
young photographer attended something called the Ms Olympia, in Atlantic
City.   I believe Rachel McLish won that contest (however, I don't want
to get into a rant, I could be wrong - Dennis Miller).
 
A very muscular black woman named Carla Dunlap also placed well in that
show.   I shot about 48 photos of the contest that day.   God, I wish I
still had the negs.
 
A few years later I attended another Olympia.  Don't remember much about
that one though.
 
I started going to local BB shows in Ontario and taking pictures of the
women, mostly.   Not that there's anything wrong with that - Jerry
Seinfeld.
 
I joined Vic Tanny's gym in Scarborough, Ontario, when I was 20
something.   I remember I was really thin at the time (believe it or
not), and I had aspirations of some day getting on stage myself and
winning a trophy.
 
The first really unusually athletic woman I actually spoke to was a girl
named Ilyena Vajackas(sp).  At the time, all of the women trained
upstairs at Vic Tanny's.
 
Downstairs, where they kept the free weights, was pretty much strictly a
male domain.
 
For several months I worked out a Vic Tanny's.   My typical workout then
was about 30 minutes upstairs doing cardio and working on the Nautilus
machines.   At the end of my workout I would go downstairs to do a couple
of sets with the free weights, where the "real men" worked out.
 
At first, I thought this muscular blond woman was wierd.  After all, the
free weights were "just for men".  But oh my good, she was a real
looker.   She was also unusually strong.
 
After about a month of watching her workout, I finally got up the nerve
to talk to her.   We had a pleasant conversation and I found out she
wasn't the freak I originally thought she was.
 
Unfortunately, for me, I also discovered she was married and her husband
was employed as a bouncer in a local bar.   That ended any romantic
notions, with this woman.  But I think that's when I got hooked on the
benefits of women's bodybuilding to women (improved health) and for men
(produces potential beauty contestants).
 
I became good friend with the couple and they let me take a few photos of
Iylena in the gym.   The last time I saw her was in Hamilton, Ontario.  
In return for letting me shoot Iylena in the gym I had promised to shoot
her husband at a regional/national contest on stage.  
 
 
Several months later, there was a story written about Ilyena, in Macleans
magazine.  The story was written by a woman and I think there were about
3 photos in it.
 
That story, for me, marked the beginning of Women's bodybuilding, in
Canada.
 
Anyways........
I continued to attend local shows, shooting about 3 rolls of film, at
each contest.
At the time, Bob Kennedy (the owner and publisher of MuscleMag
International), was/is the Canadian voice of bodybuilding to the world.
I had aspirations of some day having my photos published in MuscleMag.
However........Bob got most of his photos, at that time, from a clerk he
hired to work partime in his store downtown and part time as a staff
photographer.   The clerk's name was Chris Lund.  I learned he was
English and he had a young wife.   I spent a lot of weekends downtown in
that store, where Chris displayed a lot of 8 X 10 black and white prints
on the wall.
 
Chris shot about 90 per cent of his film, on the male BBs.   I'm not
sure, but I think Bob was against the idea of posting photos of muscular
women, in his store.
 
I still had aspirations of becoming a published photographer and I showed
Chris some of my work.  He dismissed me as a wannabe photographer,
though.
 
In the 80's I attended my first Canada contest.   I was determined to get
a photograph of a Canadian woman bodybuilder that someone would publish
in a magazine.
 
I subscribed to an American publication, called Woman's Physique
Publication.  I had met Bill Jentz and Steve Wennerstrom when I had been
in Atlantic City and they seemed like decent guys.
 
I bought some prints of several 80's women bodybuilder from WPP.  Janice
Ragain was my favorite.   I also discussed the possibility of  getting a
photo credit in WPP.
 
Bill Jentz, gave me his business card, and told me to shoot the Canada's,
and then send the photos to him.   If he liked what he saw he agreed to
publish one or two photos in WPP.
 
After I shot the contest, we negotiated a price.   He published two of my
photos on the back cover of an 80's WPP.   I got $50, for those two
photos and my Canada negatives.   Wennerstrom returned the negatives to
me around 1995.   One of the photos was of Holly Buss, the Canadian
lightweight champion that year.   Look it up, if you like.
 
 
 
 
I continued to attend just about every show I could get to, by car.
 
I developed a good working relationship with the local promoters and the
president of the Ontario bodybuilding federation.
 
At the time, a young woman named Laura Creavalle was a crowd favorite in
Ontario.  I think I have an old color 8 X 10 of her at an Ontario
contest, kicking around somewhere in my apartment.
 
Early in the 90's the Ontario BB federation held a photography contest.  
I was looking for a promising contestant to use as the subject for my
entry.   My entry in that photo contest was an outdoor shot of a young
woman named Laura Binetti.   She did a side triceps shot that I captured
on film and submitted as my entry in the photo contest.    I got second
place for that photo and was awarded a placque (I think) at the Ontario
contest that year.
 
Being published in WPP, and getting an award on stage for your work, was
pretty heady stuff for me.
 
So, I decided my next project would be to try my hand at photo
journalism.
 
I decided to attempt to get some publicity for Laura Binetti, and an
author's credit for myself.
 
I mailed her a 6 page questionnaire and asked her to reply in an honest,
but entertaining way.
She filled in the questionnaire promptly and mailed it back to me.
 
After reading over her replies, I believed Laura was very marketable.  At
the time, she had won the Ontario provincial championships and I thought
she deserved some publicity.
 
I did a photo shoot with her at a local gym and she signed a model
release for me (I think).
 
While I was pondering which of 4 magazines to send my article and the
accompanying gym photos to, Bob Kennedy and his crew moved in, did a
photo shoot with Laura and published the whole thing in MuscleMag.
 
I realized as soon as I heard that Musclemag was shooting Laura, none of
the other magazines would touch my article and the photos, in my mind, at
the time, were worthless.
 
My first attempt at becoming a bodybuilding photojournalist was a
miserable failure.
 
 
 
more to come..... if anyone's interested.