He’s the man behind the lens and although many know who he is, many don’t really know what he has done for the town of Hopedale.
Steve Bassignani, who recently retired from Bimbo bakeries as a supervisor, can be spotted at just about any high school sporting event involving the Blue Raiders. Having grown up in Franklin Massachusetts, he got married after college and moved to Whitinsville. Bassignani and his wife later bought land and built a house in Hopedale, where he has been a fixture ever since.
Photography had always been a passion of his, but when his boys were younger he was too involved in coaching their little league or basketball teams. However, when his sons graduated from high school Bassignani was in a quandary.
“After they left high school I didn’t know what to do with myself,” Bassignani said. “Then in 2008 my neighbor’s daughter was just beginning her athletic career and I started taking pictures of her. Then it evolved to Katie and her friends, then her teams and before you knew it the boy’s teams were saying what about us?”
Although photography has been in his blood he was never into the sports side of it in the beginning, he was usually taking family photos. Once he did venture into sports photography Bassignani has been unable to let it go. For years now he has been traveling to each and every Hopedale sporting event taking pictures of the athletes, for no real reason outside the fact that he just loves doing so.
“I don’t take pictures for money, I do it to make the kids happy,” the photographer said. “In today’s digital world you can’t really get that great shot unless you happen to be in the right place at the right time.”
Lori Koller of Local Town Pages remembers when Steve’s photography captured a moment in time that she would have otherwise missed. “When my Son, Kyle Koller was a sophomore, he came off the bench and got into his first varsity baseball game of the season. I was sick at the time and was not able to go to the game. Kyle hit his first homerun out of the park that day during his first at bat of the season. Steve captured not just the amazing hit, but also Kyle running the bases and the whole team running to him on home-plate. It was a moment in time that I treasure having the pictures and will be forever grateful!”
The Hopedale schools would like to believe Bassignani is always in the right place at the right time. In fact, since his retirement Bassignani has become a substitute teacher, where more and more kids are realizing who he is.
“Steve has been such an important part of the Hopedale sports program and I’m sure a lot of kids don’t realize the memories that he has captured throughout their careers here,” Athletic Director Jessica Ladieu said. “What he does is such a gift to the school; you can’t put a price tag on it. Steve has been a part of our community and we can’t thank him enough.”
Having been to all of Hopedale’s high school sporting events, as well as those with co-op programs Bassignani is finding out that other towns are also starting to realize who the man behind the lens is and they too want to have their teams photographed.
Anyone interested in viewing Bassignani’s work can go to his facebook page to see more of what this Hopedale resident does in his spare time.