Scout Tufankjian

Scout Tufankjian is an Armenian-American photojournalist and author based in Brooklyn, New York. She is well known for her photos of American President Barack Obama during his campaign leading up to his presidency. She is also known for her photojournalism work on the Armenian diaspora.

Early life and education

She was born in Boston, Massachusetts to an Armenian-American father, Allan, a lawyer, and an Irish-American mother, Betty. She grew up in the south shore towns of Whitman and Scituate, both in Massachusetts.[1]

She attended and earned a B.A. in Political Science and Government from Yale University in 2000.

Career

From 2006 to 2008 she covered Senator Barack Obama's campaign for President of the United States, and was the only independent journalist to follow him from the run up to his announcing his candidacy through his victory on election night.[2] Tufankjian took more than 12,000 photographs throughout the campaign.[3] She released a book featuring a selection of the photographs titled Yes We Can: Barack Obama's History-Making Presidential Campaign in December 2008, which sold out its initial 55,000 copy run a month before it was released.[2]

In August 2012, Tufankjian took a photo of Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama hugging each other, and the Obama campaign staff sent this picture out on the official Obama Facebook and Twitter accounts the night of the election, 6 Nov. 2012. This picture became the most liked photo on Facebook and most retweeted tweet in history.[4][5]

Works
  • Yes We Can: Barack Obama's History-Making Presidential Campaign (2008)
  • There Is Only the Earth: Images from the Armenian Diaspora Project, Melcher Media, 2015. A photojournalist's study of the Armenian diaspora on its 100th anniversary.

Personal life

In 2010, Scout Tufankjian married Nate Schenkkan who is also a Yale and Columbia graduate and former journalist.[6]

References
  1. Janbazian, Rupen, "There is Only the Earth: An Interview with Photojournalist Scout Tufankjian", The Armenian Weekly, 21 November 2014.
  2. Andriana, Lynn (18 November 2008). "PowerHouse Sells Out First Printing of Obama Book". Publishers Weekly. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on 26 November 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
  3. Nurwisah, Ronald (5 November 2008). "Scout Tufankjian: Eyewitness to Obama's historic run". National Post. Canwest. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
  4. http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2012/11/07/facebook_photo_of_barack_obama_hugging_michelle_is_most_liked_most_retweeted.html
  5. https://gizmodo.com/5959053/exclusive-the-story-behind-the-internets-most-popular-photo
  6. "Tufankjian –Schenkkan engagement", Wicked Local, August 26, 2010.

Further reading


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