Scout Tufankjian is an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

and author based in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. She is well known for her photos of American President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

during his campaign leading up to his presidency. She is also known for her photojournalism work on the

Armenian diaspora The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...

Early life and education

She was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

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.Janbazian, Rupen
"There is Only the Earth: An Interview with Photojournalist Scout Tufankjian"
''The Armenian Weekly'', 21 November 2014. As a child she was separated from the Armenian community in Massachusetts. Her knowledge of the her Armenian heritage came from reading magazines and newspapers that she found at her grandparents home. She started shooting in Northern Ireland at age 18. She attended and earned a B.A. in Political Science and Government from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 2000. Languages : English, Arabic

Career

From 2006 to 2008 she covered Senator

'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. Tufankjian took more than 12,000 photographs throughout the campaign. 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. In 2010 she went to cover the

Haiti Earthquake Some of the earthquakes in Haiti have been very destructive to the country. The widespread damage and high-number of casualties of events in 2010 and 2021 can be partially blamed on the fact that most of the population in Haiti resides in struct ...

and its aftermath. From 2011 to 2012 Tufankjian went to Egypt to photograph The Egyptian Revolution. From this time she has Photos categorized as The Egyptian Revaluation, The Detainees, Along the Barricades, Endgame, The Egyptian Elections and Egypt's Salafi Community. In August 2012, Tufankjian took a photo of

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

and President Barack Obama hugging each other. The photo was taken in Dubuque, IA in Aug15th. Instead of focusing on the Obamas as political figures, Tufankjian focused on them as a couple. The Obama campaign staff sent this picture out on the official Obama Facebook and Twitter accounts the night of

the election ''The Election'' () is a political drama series produced by Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV). With a budget of HK$15 million, filming started in July 2014 and wrapped up on 28 October 2014. Popularly voted to be the inaugural drama of ...

, 6 Nov. 2012. This picture became the most liked photo on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

and most retweeted tweet in history. In 2015 Tufankjian published in commemoration of the Centennial of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

, There is only the Earth: Images for Armenian Diaspora. Tufankjian took 6 years and traveled to 5 different continents gathering stories and photos of the Arminian people who were killed and displaces from their homes by the Ottoman government between 1915 and 1923. Tufankjian traveled to Ethiopia, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Argentina, France, United States, Hing Kong, and Canada in search of Arminian communities, photographing Armenian lives around the world. In showing how the Armenian people survived Tufankjian's photos capture everyday life, the from religious to the romantic to the familial.

Works

*Images from the Middle East (2006) *''Yes We Can: Barack Obama's History-Making Presidential Campaign'' (2008) *Haiti 2010 The Haitian Earthquake, A Tale of Two Camps *Egypt 2011-2012: A Year of Revaluation * ''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 *Commissioned work: The HALO Trust: 100 Women in Demining (2017) *Ongoing Projects Karabakh: 2002-2020

Personal life

In 2010, Scout Tufankjian married Nate Schenkkan who is also a Yale and Columbia graduate and former journalist."Tufankjian –Schenkkan engagement", ''Wicked Local'', August 26, 2010.
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References

External links