Free and Open to the Public

Photojournalists, though, necessarily adaptable, often specialize in certain areas: politics, society, culture, or war and conflict. Rare, however, is the photographer who goes from covering conflict in the Middle East to documenting in depth, a US presidential campaign. Scout Tufankjian is one such photographer. She spent four years in the Middle East, primarily, in Gaza, where she covered various Israeli attacks and the election that brought Hamas to power. Back in the U.S. in late 2006, Ms. Tufankjian was asked to photograph a potential presidential candidate doing book signing in New Hampshire. Sensing the unique excitement the crowd had for a relatively unknown figure, Barack Obama, she decided to cover his still-unannounced campaign from that point until its conclusion, his election as President. After the campaign, Ms. Tufankjian distilled the over 12 thousand pictures she took into a book she entitled Yes We Can: Barack Obama’s History Making Presidential Campaign.

Scout Tufankjian appears at Alwan to discuss the craft of photojournalism from the perspective of someone who has practiced it in dramatically different places. She will talk about some of the challenges she has faced in differences contrasting her experiences in the Middle East, the Obama campaign, and the multiple other places she has gone with camera and an eye to tell a story through pictures.

About the author:

Scout Tufankjian is an independent photographer who spent four years of her career covering the Middle East, primarily from Gaza. Scout Tufankjian has had photographs published in every major newspaper and news magazine, including Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, People, The Guardian, ELLE, Esquire, Essence, Rolling Stone, Fortune, The Times of London, Stern, Der Spiegel, and many others. Before covering the Obama campaign, Tufankjian worked photographing the conflict in the Middle East, primarily the Gaza Strip, for four years. Tufankjian is represented by Polaris Images. She lives in Brooklyn, and has a B.A. in Political Science from Yale.

Last updated: 2009-03-17 16:29:21