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PRESS RELEASE

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

AGBU Hosts Scout Tufankjian for Sold-Out Book Reading in Manhattan

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.

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU
preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through
educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually touching the
lives of some 400,000 Armenians on six continents.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress