Hope it is still my job when the day comes for me to hang up the cameras
Casey Cass (1991)
By Daniel Rockwell
Mass communication can be defined as a very broad subject that affects many people’s lives everyday. Studying “mass comm” broadens a student’s perspective on the future, and he or she may find a career that was not the original plan.
When Mesa State graduate Casey Cass, current public relations photographer at the University of Colorado in Boulder, was a mass comm major in the early 1990s, he was a dreaming theater student who became a talented photojournalist and public relations photographer.
“I miss certain things of the photojournalism business, but being a PR shooter, I do not miss those 2 a.m. phone calls,” Cass said.
Photography was as an early interest for Cass, but his “true love” in high school was technical theater. In his senior year of high school, he applied to Mesa State College with thoughts of majoring in theater.
Before Cass had officially declared his major at MSC, he met with the director of the Mass Comm program, Professor Byron Evers. Cass decided to major in mass comm., and never looked back.
“From that moment on, Professor Evers continued to spark more of a passion for photography in me than I could have imagined,” said Cass.
With his new degree in hand after graduating in 1991, Cass landed his first position as the lone photographer for the Glenwood Post in Glenwood Springs, Colo. His college experience as a photojournalist on the MSC student newspaper, the Criterion, and as an intern for the Boulder Daily Camera enabled Cass to excel in his career for eight years.
When the Glenwood Independent bought out the Glenwood Post, Cass found himself out of work. But he soon was hired as a public relations photographer for the University of Colorado. That was 10 years ago.
“I have been on staff here at CU for 10 years, and hope it is still my job when the day comes for me to hang up the cameras,” Cass said.
As an important asset to Mesa State alumni, Cass credits three men for advancing his career – “My father, for pushing a camera into my hand at age 12, Professor Evers for lighting the spark, and Vern Walker who was the photo editor at the Daily Camera.”
“Walker gave me a huge break and taught me a lot about the ins and outs of being a photojournalist in a very competitive market,” Cass said.
Casey said we would welcome getting back in contact with classmates and friends.
Casey A. Cass Photographer University Communications University of Colorado at Boulder 3100 Marine St. Campus Box 584 Boulder, CO 80309-0584 303-492-4173 (office) 303-818-7491 (cell) Email Casey
http://www.colorado.edu/Publications/photography/
