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Inside View: The Eye Behind The Lens
My job as a sports cameraman took me around the world. I met thousands of people and worked on hundreds of assignments. I recorded stories at nine Olympics, four Commonwealth Games, the Pan Am Games and World Track and Field, FIFA World Cup, World Cup skiing events around the world, figure skating championships, many Grey Cup Games and six Canada Games as well as hundreds of NHL hockey games. When I look through the lens I read people instantly. A lens can amplify facial expressions. I see the emotion written on their face. Are they happy or unhappy, worried or confident, relaxed or anxious, secure or insecure? After working for over forty years in this industry I’ve come to realize that being the guy behind the camera was a comfortable place to be. Three things were important in my life: family, work and the women I loved.
274 pages, Paperback
Published December 3, 2018
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December 19, 2018
Michael Varga and his co-author, Roxanne Davies have created a most enjoyable "life and times" of this award winning, world travelling, dedicated sports cameraman. The book is a straightforward look at what Mr. Varga witnessed through his forty years as a camera operator with CBC and other global broadcasters. It also provides a peek into the man himself. Mr. Varga's job took him around the world, meeting, working with, and interviewing thousands of people, capturing action and events from the 1970's to current times. His anecdotes and memories of those times provide an interesting narrative for many of us Canadians who tuned in every day to find out about our world.
Mr. Varga's life story provides a comfortable frame, as the man himself states, "being behind the camera was a comfortable place to be", but within that frame the authors have cleverly focused on events and images of stories that were important to Canadians. By recalling those moments, sometimes accompanied by a brief and much appreciated memory jog, they invite us to recall our own experience of those moments - Henderson's winning goal, the Gretzky trade, Diana's tragic death. In some cases Mr. Varga was directly behind the camera at those events, in others, such as 911, he was part of a team of journalists who were tasked with telling the story from a Canadian perspective.
Told in the first person but without a hint of ego, it becomes obvious to the reader that Mr. Varga was a top-notch cameraman, a valued teammate, and an insightful visual story-teller. Typically, he modestly claims the key to his success was simply "learning to never be late."
In Inside View Mr. Varga's story-telling is ably assisted by his co-author, Roxanne Davies. She deftly sketches history or context to amplify a memory or a location. She encourages her co-author to give us numerous glimpses into his personal attitudes, his ambitions and fears. Like a good director, she skips lightly over some details and focuses on those scenes that connect the reader to Mr. Varga's story. In one memorable scene Mr. Varga tells us how he confronted his bosses in one of those team meetings that are called to air grievances - but nobody says boo. "No one wanted to get burned. Then it was my turn to speak. I had a choice. Go along to get along or really tell them what was on my mind. I was never the kind of guy to get easily upset. In fact I seldom get upset. In this business, you need a thick hide and good nerves or you won't last. I got up, took a deep breath, and said (what needed to be said)." In the aftermath, Mr. Varga reflects, "It only goes to show you should always speak up when you know you the facts and what you say is true. The truth will set you free, but first it really has to piss you off."
The narrative is very colloquial and the book is well paced, slipping easily through time and place as memory has that way of connecting and sorting the incidents of our life. Mr. Varga has a positive upbeat spirit, and while lots of names are dropped, almost all (spoiler alert) of the celebrities he worked with are treated with the same respect and professionalism that the cameraman must have displayed throughout his career. The authors don't shy away from digging into emotion. The chapters about family and Mr. Varga's grand romance are evocative and touching without being over sentimental.
As the book blurb states, "this book is a very worthwhile read for any fan of TV sports, or the business of TV." In the interests of full disclosure, I am honoured to be counted as one of Mr. Varga's many friends, and I can honestly say, "This really is the Vargoo I know." Well done, Mike (and Roxanne).
Mr. Varga's life story provides a comfortable frame, as the man himself states, "being behind the camera was a comfortable place to be", but within that frame the authors have cleverly focused on events and images of stories that were important to Canadians. By recalling those moments, sometimes accompanied by a brief and much appreciated memory jog, they invite us to recall our own experience of those moments - Henderson's winning goal, the Gretzky trade, Diana's tragic death. In some cases Mr. Varga was directly behind the camera at those events, in others, such as 911, he was part of a team of journalists who were tasked with telling the story from a Canadian perspective.
Told in the first person but without a hint of ego, it becomes obvious to the reader that Mr. Varga was a top-notch cameraman, a valued teammate, and an insightful visual story-teller. Typically, he modestly claims the key to his success was simply "learning to never be late."
In Inside View Mr. Varga's story-telling is ably assisted by his co-author, Roxanne Davies. She deftly sketches history or context to amplify a memory or a location. She encourages her co-author to give us numerous glimpses into his personal attitudes, his ambitions and fears. Like a good director, she skips lightly over some details and focuses on those scenes that connect the reader to Mr. Varga's story. In one memorable scene Mr. Varga tells us how he confronted his bosses in one of those team meetings that are called to air grievances - but nobody says boo. "No one wanted to get burned. Then it was my turn to speak. I had a choice. Go along to get along or really tell them what was on my mind. I was never the kind of guy to get easily upset. In fact I seldom get upset. In this business, you need a thick hide and good nerves or you won't last. I got up, took a deep breath, and said (what needed to be said)." In the aftermath, Mr. Varga reflects, "It only goes to show you should always speak up when you know you the facts and what you say is true. The truth will set you free, but first it really has to piss you off."
The narrative is very colloquial and the book is well paced, slipping easily through time and place as memory has that way of connecting and sorting the incidents of our life. Mr. Varga has a positive upbeat spirit, and while lots of names are dropped, almost all (spoiler alert) of the celebrities he worked with are treated with the same respect and professionalism that the cameraman must have displayed throughout his career. The authors don't shy away from digging into emotion. The chapters about family and Mr. Varga's grand romance are evocative and touching without being over sentimental.
As the book blurb states, "this book is a very worthwhile read for any fan of TV sports, or the business of TV." In the interests of full disclosure, I am honoured to be counted as one of Mr. Varga's many friends, and I can honestly say, "This really is the Vargoo I know." Well done, Mike (and Roxanne).
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