A Tribute to Kathy Willens: My Friendship with a Legend
Kathy Willens receives a print of a photo she took from David Cone’s perfect game celebration from the hands of New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone during her retirement in 2021.|Credit: Courtesy of Sarah Stier/Getty Images, via Kathy Willens’s Facebook page
Associated Press photographer Kathy Willens passed away on Tuesday, July 16 2024, at the age of 74. She had a 45-year career with AP and was one of the agency’s first female photographers. Yet, as sad as this makes me, my experience with her, our friendship, and the many lessons she taught me, will live in my heart forever.
I met Kathy during a baseball game in Holguín in 2012. It was the closing of the season for the team, and they were playing the now-defunct Metropolitanos—Havana’s second team in the Cuban National Series. At the time, I was shooting with a Fujifilm Finepix S1500. She instantly had her guide come and get me, when she saw me photographing the game, recognizing a photojournalist with the sharp eye that she had.
She spoke to me as a person she had known her entire life. “Let me see that,” she said, asking me to hand her my camera. She looked at it, looked through the viewfinder (never pressing the shutter) and gave it back to me, saying “I wanna see what you do with this later on.”
We exchanged contact information, and it was when she gave me the card that I realized she worked for The Associated Press.
Not expecting to hear from her, I emailed her, and I got a prompt response. She went on to critique my work, telling me which photos were the best, and which photos I should discard, while also telling me “Hey, this photo looks great for the camera you have, but press the shutter sooner next time.” She instantly became a mentor —refusing to call herself that— and from that moment on, was a beacon and an example for me to follow.
For over three years, her advice was sharp and accurate: I became a better photographer (still light years below her quality) with every conversation I had with her.
It was in September 2015, when her words made a turning point in my life. Pope Francis was about to visit Cuba, and I had been selected as one of the photographers to cover his mass in Holguín. As I stated in Photographing The Pope, her advice will remain in my mind forever: she told me that as there were going to be other photographers with better equipment and better location than me, I should take photos of the Bishop of Rome, yes, but also focus on my people, the faithful in attendance.
Following her recommendation led to getting a full page of my photos in the printed paper. I was one of the photographers awarded the Grand Prize of printed media in the province that year. I have no doubt I owe that to her words of wisdom.
Shortly after, she made yet another huge impact, when she vouched for me with Major League Baseball to secure a media credential for me as the main journalist of Universo Béisbol to attend the Tampa Bay Rays in Havana, with then-US President Barack Obama in attendance.
Her reputation in MLB circles was so highly valued, that even with the high security involved I ended up getting field access, and photographing from the Tampa Bay Rays dugout. After the game, she messaged me to let me know that I should meet with Al Diaz, a Miami Herald photographer who was also covering the US presidential visit, because it would be a good connection. Al and I met in the press room, and we went for drinks after that.
When I told Al about what Kathy had been doing for me, he smiled, and told me that she had done a lot more for him. With his story, I realized she was not only an outstanding photographer, but also an incredibly generous person who would do anything to help a fellow photographer become better, and who would find opportunities for them if it was within her power.
During that visit, I also happened meet with Jeff Idelson, then President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, whom I had interviewed online, also thanks to Kathy. He introduced me to Jean Fruth, another photographer who has had a huge impact in my life and my profession, and told me that since I was going to be in the New England and Tri-State area, I should apply for a media credential to attend the Hall of Fame Induction Weekend.
A few months later, I was finally able to travel to the United States for the first time. She instantly invited me to go to New York City (I was in Connecticut), and knowing that I was going to, I printed a Derek Jeter photo I took during the press conference in Havana, prior to the Rays game a few months earlier. She was ecstatic when I gave her the print and signed it for her. After her passing, Al Diaz revealed a series of photos he had taken in his last visit to her, shortly before the fateful day, and I was humbled to see she still kept the print in her bookshelf.
That day, we toured the Big Apple during the morning and part of the early afternoon, visiting the 9/11 Monument, walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, and even having my photo taken with two NYPD officers.
Me with two NYPD officers at both sides. Kathy Willens took this picture during our first adventure in New York City.|Credit: Kathy Willens
We had arranged for a media credential for a Cardinals vs Mets game in Citi Field, but we didn’t even get to the first pitch because of a rainout —actually, it had been the fear of lightning what led to the suspension.
Feeling bad for me missing such a great opportunity, she drove me around the city, and we had a night photo tour of New York, focusing on the East River, where I snapped photos of the Manhattan Bridge (with the Empire State building captured within its arches) and the Brooklyn Bridge. She also introduced me to cheesecake after our little adventure.
The Empire State Building under the arches of the Manhattan Bridge at DUMBO. I shot this photo using Kathy’s monopod to avoid camera shake.|Credit: Reynaldo Cruz Diaz
For some reason, our failure to be in a baseball game working together as media, kept on itching inside her. After almost a year in which she kept on examining my work from a distance, and trying to make me better at it, I came back to the United States to attend a SABR baseball conference in New York City.
We discussed the possibility of me staying with her again, hoping to land another MLB game.
The craziest of coincidences took place before my conference, as I was waiting for a shuttle bus along with my friend Yasel Porto to go to the airport. I look to my left and I say “Hey, man, I know this woman who’s coming.” He just replied “What are you talking about? We are in New York City. We know nobody here!”
But there she was, carrying one camera on each shoulder, and she went crazy when she saw me.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were not coming to New York until Sunday,” she almost screamed as she hugged me.
“No!” I replied as I hugged her back. “I told you I would get to your house on Sunday, but my conference starts today.”
“Well,” Kathy replied after I introduced her and Yasel. “You better find time to write to me during the conference so we can do some planning. We might be able to catch a Yankees game. Now I have to go, I have an event to cover a couple of blocks from here.”
Then she rushed away.
During my time at the conference, she asked me to request media credentials for the Blue Jays vs Yankees game on July 3. The chances were slim, due to the proximity to the Fourth of July and the fact that Masahiro Tanaka was pitching for the Yankees that day, which normally led to several Japanese photographers being given gameday access.
After some back and forth with the Yankees Public Relations office, I was told to write a good reason for me to be give the pass. So, I explained that I was from Holguín like Aroldis Chapman, and that I would like to interview him so that he would send a message to the people of his hometown.
Thanks to that, but mainly to Kathy’s vouching for me, I was approved.
Prior to the game, I was getting ready to pack my things, and she noticed my backpack could barely hold my laptop. So she took me to the office and laid half a dozen backpacks on the floor. “Pick the one you like,” she said. “It is yours.”
I ended up picking a ThinkTank Shapeshifter, and then she loaned me a Canon EOS 5D Mark III (I was only carrying a Rebel SL1) and an EF 300mm f/2.8 IS II USM lens. “You better use professional gear,” she said. “You are gonna be working with the Yankees tonight.”
We got into the photographers’ booth in Yankee Stadium, and she introduced me to everyone. Then I was in the Yankees clubhouse to interview Holguín-born pitcher Aroldis Chapman. As I talked to my fellow holguinero, Kathy snapped two very good photos of us, both of which would end up in my Universo Béisbol post of the interview.
Before the game, we went first to the third base side (both starting pitchers, Tanaka and Marcus Stroman, were righthanded) and then promptly to the first base side, knowing that Aroldis Chapman would be closing that day.
She kept on doing her job, but giving me pointers now and then, trying to make sure I was the best photographer I could be in such an opportunity. I took some decent photos, given my total inexperience with the Mark III, and we downloaded the photos to my computer before she dropped me off with Dave Kenna, a friend with whom I would be traveling back to Connecticut.
The last time I saw her in person was also that year in New York City, I stayed with her for two nights, but we did not do much more than talk about photography. For the first time, she mentioned the experiences in Somalia during its civil war, saying that some photographers lost their lives in that conflict. We spoke about other photographers’ work, and she showed me some of the books that she recommended I read while mentioning some of the baseball photographers whose work she thought I should follow.
When Covid-19 hit Cuba in 2020, Kathy was one of the people who kept following my work and cheering me up. We would constantly be exchanging information, and she would be examining my work, telling me what I could have done better, and even gave me pointers in editing.
In 2021, during the months of her retirement and her subsequent diagnosis with ovarian cancer, I decided to leave Cuba. Knowing that I would be landing in San Miguel de Allende, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mexico, Kathy did some research for me about things that I could do, because internet services were very bad and restricted in Cuba following the protests of July 11.
After I landed in Mexico, she did not lose track of my path, complimenting my photography while also pointing out the best photo of each series that I published.
Upon my arrival in the US, she stayed in touch. After hearing my story, she suggested that I should write down an in-depth piece involving all my border-crossing and my time in detention and prison in Texas. I have been working on it over the past year.
The last thing she did for me, directly, was in January 2023, when she saw a photo that I posted of a red-tailed hawk and read my caption saying I could not identify it. She instantly messaged me and said that I should go and download the Merlin app, so I was able to identify any bird that I photographed. Once again, she was looking out for others, and as a birdwatcher, she was sharing her knowledge and expertise trying to make others better.
One of our last interactions was in January 2024, when I posted a photo of Cuba that I got into a contest. Her comment on Facebook was “Found feature”, which, coming from her, was a HUGE compliment.
I will forever be thankful that we crossed paths 12 years ago, and I will always appreciate her help, her lessons, her encouragement, her friendship, and her confidence in me to be a better photographer. She took several leaps of faith with me, and opened many doors for me. Not a lot of people do that. As sad as her passing makes me, I have this warm feeling that I met an exceptional colleague who helped me hone my craft more than anyone else.
Thank you, my friend.
