{"id":39544,"date":"2025-05-26T18:16:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T22:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/?p=39544"},"modified":"2025-05-27T14:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T18:10:09","slug":"remember-michelle-wojdyla-photographer-mentor-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/remember-michelle-wojdyla-photographer-mentor-friend\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Michelle Wojdyla – Photographer, Mentor, Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Daphne Backman<\/em><\/p>\n

On February 1, 2025, I received the heartbreaking news that Michelle Wojdyla had passed away.\u00a0I\u2019ve started this article so many times and had to stop, restart, scrap it, and start over because I was trying too hard to make it perfect, to not forget anyone she helped or to include every single special memory. For the first few tries, it was impossible for me to get my head around the magnitude of writing it. Now that I\u2019ve been able to sit with it, I\u2019m trying again. And the result, is what you\u2019re reading now.<\/em><\/p>\n

Writing this tribute would not have been possible if Michelle hadn\u2019t shared her photography journey reflections for IDC’s 25th Anniversary video. I\u2019m grateful she did. It not only allows me to share the story of how she contributed to the world of figure skating photography, but also about the lives of those who were lucky enough to learn from her. Friends she met along the way and photographers she mentored also sent photos and shared their own stories.<\/p>\n

For those who have followed Ice-Dance.com (IDC) since its early days, you may remember Michelle as one of our first photographers. For those who have not, Michelle’s influence played a key role in shaping the early trajectory of IDC in many ways beyond the lens of her camera.<\/p>\n

\"\"Michelle’s path into photography began at the 1999 World Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki. Her friend Ginger loaned her a camera (pictured, right), she sat in the front row for ice dance, unsure of how to even turn it on.<\/p>\n

A kind stranger, Emma Abraham, took Michelle under her wing, setting up her camera and introducing her to the intricate beauty of ice dance. This is the same Emma who co-founded ice-dance.com<\/span><\/a> with me just a few months later.<\/p>\n

“It was like I had been shown this secret portal, and I will be eternally grateful for that,” Michelle later recalled. It was in that moment that a deep passion for figure skating photography was ignited, one that would shape the next seven years of her life.<\/p>\n

Introduced by our mutual friend Emma, I first met Michelle in 2000 at a Champions On Ice tour stop in New Jersey. From that point forward, Michelle and I stayed in touch through email, and over the years, we became friends.<\/p>\n

In 2003, as Emma began to step back from IDC, Michelle expressed an interest in helping me expand the site. She encouraged me to post more photos from events and started sharing photos from her catalog to jumpstart the expansion. She pushed this idea of how event coverage could bring new visitors and grow beyond the information hub we had created.<\/p>\n

This was also the first year that we decided to go to the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships. Our friend Karen Frank recommended it after attending the previous year and encouraged us to join her for the next one. As die-hard ice dance fans, we were immediately intrigued by a competition dedicated entirely to our favorite discipline. Little did we know what Lake Placid would come to represent. In the early days, it took all night for photos to back up from the laptop to the portable hard drive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the next several seasons, Michelle\u2019s constant encouragement led me to push further in our event coverage, attending more events\u2014including my first U.S. National Championships in 2006.<\/p>\n

However, that summer everything changed. Michelle was involved in a head-on vehicular collision that caused a brain injury. Her memory was affected. She suffered from vertigo and physically found that she could no longer shoot the way she once had.<\/p>\n

Michelle being Michelle and despite any attempts to implore her to focus on her condition and recovery, her immediate concern after the accident was the upcoming event in Lake Placid. She had resolved to try to continue to photograph events, but at a different capacity.<\/p>\n

Due to fatigue, pain and vertigo, Michelle handed me a camera for the first time. With quick instruction and her guidance, 2006 Lake Placid marked a turning point in my own professional journey, and Michelle became more than a friend to me\u2014she became a mentor.<\/p>\n

Michelle started a slow transition from photographer to teacher. Her unwavering passion for photography and her willingness to share her knowledge also changed the career trajectory of others including Melanie Heaney, Katie Pettet, Robin Ritoss and Liz Chastney.<\/p>\n

Katie\u2019s story began with a simple email to Michelle, asking for advice on Canon DSLRs and freelance photography. What started as a question quickly evolved into a mentorship that would change Katie\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Michelle\u2019s response was full of wit and wisdom, including her infamous disdain for skaters in white costumes: “I hate when skaters wear white because it makes it so difficult to find the right camera settings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMichelle hated white costumes as much as she loved HoJo\u2019s mac & cheese,\u201d Katie shared.<\/p>\n

In 2007, Michelle suggested we reach out for help in covering the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships, offering the opportunity for those interested to learn photography while using her equipment or providing their own.

Katie and Melanie Heaney traveled to Lake Placid to take advantage of this opportunity and to learn from Michelle. That trip became the foundation for the IDC event coverage team.<\/p>\n

Summers spent in Lake Placid became some of my fondest memories\u2014filled with late nights, laughter, hard work, and the camaraderie of the four of us. The second year, we became the \u201choodie brigade\u201d after buying matching pink Lake Placid hoodies.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny because I remember Melanie sharing with me later that she hadn\u2019t planned on returning to Lake Placid. However Michelle\u2019s final words to her after that week were \u201csee you next year.\u201d She was right.<\/p>\n

Robin’s story intersected with Michelle’s at a pivotal moment. As a journalist eager to improve her writing with strong visual content, Robin reached out to me for advice. In 2009, I invited Robin to Lake Placid to learn photography from Michelle and borrow some equipment. What Robin didn\u2019t know was how this trip would change her life forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some reason, at that event, I felt at home,\u201d Robin shared. \u201cMichelle took me under her wing and patiently taught me the fundamentals of photography.”<\/p>\n

\u201cI owe everything to Michelle, Daphne, and Mr. Sugawara from Japan. Each one of them explained the basics\u2014shutter speed, ISO, and aperture\u2014in a way that made sense. I spent hours sitting with Michelle, who gave me pointers on what makes a good photo.”<\/p>\n

\u201cShe edited my photos, offered encouragement, and even told me I had the ‘eye.’ I was shocked when some of my photos were actually used on the website. Michelle told me I was bitten by the photography bug. She was right.”<\/p>\n

Though Robin was initially hesitant to call herself a photographer, Michelle\u2019s influence continued and as Robin\u2019s skills grew, so did her confidence. Michelle had warned her that once the bug bites, there\u2019s no turning back. Robin the journalist gradually transitioned into Robin the photographer, and from that point on, there was no looking back.<\/p>\n

I remember that one year, we (Katie, Robin, Melanie, Liz and I) sent Michelle a Michelle Wojdyla School of Photography mug for Christmas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Michelle\u2019s mentorship extended far beyond this group. She nurtured an entire generation of photographers, referring to us as her \u201cbabies,\u201d celebrating our milestones as if they were her own.\u00a0When Robin earned her first Olympic credential in 2018, Michelle was moved to tears. “My baby is going to the Olympics!” she said, filled with pride. Another outpouring of emotion came in 2022 when Melanie earned her accreditation for the Beijing Games.<\/p>\n

Michelle loved the Olympics. One of her favorite trips took place in 1994 when she attended the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Every two years she spent weeks watching the U.S. national trials in many sports, not just winter sports or just figure skating. She and her mom also hosted Olympic viewing parties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“My favorite memories will always be watching the Olympics at her house in New Jersey,” Alexis shared. “She\u2019d pick me up from the train and then we\u2019d spend a whole weekend watching event after event. Her and her wonderful mother would rent a huge tv, black out the windows and provide the best snacks. In recent years we have been texting and discussing Formula One almost every weekend, and it reminded me of the early days of our friendship, enjoying a sport both loved. I will miss my friend and how she always made me laugh, and I\u2019m so thankful for sports bringing us together.”<\/p>\n

In more recent years, Michelle would utilize multiple screens at home so she would miss as little of the competitions as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even when Michelle could no longer travel, her love for figure skating, the skaters, and photography never wavered. She cheered for every team, edited photos, and offered advice to those who sought it. Her presence may have been physically absent, but her spirit remained in every image, every word of encouragement.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m not sure what is more exciting: capturing an amazing ice dance photograph or being there when someone else does,” Michelle once mused. “Some people just have an eye for skating photography. It\u2019s different from other kinds of photography.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michelle Wojdyla\u2019s legacy lives on through the photographers she mentored, the friendships she nurtured, and the passion she ignited. Her story will continue to be told through the images she captured, the memories she created, and the lives she changed through the generosity of sharing her gift.<\/p>\n

Photographs for this article were contributed by Ginger Whatley, Amy Sullivan and Alexis DiVicenti.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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