Sept. 15, 2022

This fall, the Canadian men’s national soccer team will be making its first FIFA World Cup appearance since 1986, and a Seneca graduate has been on the sidelines to capture the ups and downs of the team’s historic season.

“There have been a few epic celebrations this year,” said Martin Bazyl, who graduated from the Photography (previously Independent Photography) diploma program. “Every time they score, or when you walk out into a stadium with the team and people are cheering, you get a rush.”

A professional sports photographer and avid soccer fan, Mr. Bazyl has been working for Soccer Canada for about five years. He shoots all of the home games and some away games for both the men’s and women’s national teams.

Although he will not be travelling with the men’s team to Qatar for the World Cup, Mr. Bazyl says he is happy to stay back and watch the games on television.

“I’m not missing it, since it’s a crazy time for travel, but I want them to succeed and am happy to be a fan,” he said. “When I’m working during the game, I have to focus on getting the shots. I don’t get to see how the game develops.” 

Mr. Bazyl bought his first camera in 2004 — a point-and-shoot with a 12x zoom. He was working in sales then and soon upgraded to a single-lens reflex camera and began taking photos for a Toronto FC blog site in his spare time.

“I wasn’t properly taught and was shooting everything on auto, which decides everything for you,” he recalled. “Looking back, I thought I had what it takes to be a photographer.”

When he got tired of trying to make sales every day, Mr. Bazyl decided to study photography formally at Seneca. He initially wanted to pursue photojournalism, but after covering a protest (and winning the program’s photojournalism prize for it), Mr. Bazyl found that it was not the right career path for him.

“The winning photo was taken as a result of a tragedy — it was heart-wrenching,” he said. “I realized that to be a photojournalist, you rush to where something terrible happens so you can take photos. That’s not my vibe.”

Instead, Mr. Bazyl turned to sports photography and shot a women’s national hockey championship tournament at the University of Toronto for a class assignment. That summer, he was offered a contract to take photos for the Varsity Blues. 

Mr. Bazyl continued to work for the Varsity Blues during his studies at Seneca, taking an extra year to finish the program. Following his graduation in 2013, he went on to take photos for both the varsity athletics programs at the University of Toronto and Seneca for several years.

Through word of mouth, Mr. Bazyl also picked up work with League1 Ontario, Ontario Soccer and Toronto FC.

“The program at Seneca taught me everything I needed to know as a photographer,” he said. “A lot of what I’ve done in my career links back to Seneca.”

A lifelong learner, Mr. Bazyl says he is always learning new things on the job.

“No matter how good you get, you never discount the feedback you receive,” he said. “You can always pick up new things. If someone has something to say, I’ll hear them out, because they might know something I don’t. That’s the humility in this business.”