May 19, 2009
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AGBU Hosts Scout Tufankjian for Sold-Out Book Reading in Manhattan

  • Photographer Scout Tufankjian (center) with committee member
    Photographer Scout Tufankjian (center) with committee members of AGBU's (right side) New York Special Events Committee and (left side) the Young Professionals of Greater New York.

On Thursday, May 7, 2009, AGBU's New York Special Events Committee (NYSEC) and the Young Professionals of Greater New York (YPGNY) joined forces to host a special book event for prominent Armenian-American photographer Scout Tufankjian and her best-selling book, Yes We Can: Barack Obama's History-Making Presidential Campaign (Powerhouse Books).

For two years, Tufankjian documented U.S. Presidential hopeful Barack Obama's journey through America's forgotten corners to the White House. She spoke to a capacity crowd at AGBU Central Office in Manhattan and presented a rich selection of images from her book and personal archives, many of which were reproduced in publications around the world during the 2008 campaign. Each photo was accompanied by a personal story told by Tufankjian, who explained the context of each image and illuminated little known aspects of the campaign.

"We were delighted with Scout's presentation. The turnout from the YP's and NYSEC was excellent. People of all ages responded to her warmth and enthusiasm. It was also wonderful to see that she was excited and passionate to be talking to her fellow Armenian Americans about a project that guided her life for years. The audience had the opportunity to ask questions of Scout's journey and her responses provided a lot of behind the scenes insight into the making of a Presidential election campaign," says Betty Cherkezian, NYSEC committee member and event chair.

While Yes We Can was published in November, right after Obama's election as president, Tufankjian continued to document the president-elect's life until his inauguration on January 20, 2009. The photographer treated event attendees to a sneak peak at some never before seen images from the inauguration and she spoke frankly about the personal connection she developed with Obama and his staff.

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