TUFANKJIAN TALKS ABOUT HER PHOTO COVERAGE OF OBAMA’S CAMPAIGN

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February 25, 2010

WATERTOWN, Mass.-At its first monthly dinner meeting of 2010, the
St. James Men’s Club was honored to have as guest speaker the noted
photojournalist Scout Tufankjian, who spoke on her penetrating photo
coverage of the entire two-year presidential campaign of Barack Obama.

Tufankjian was the only independent photographer to do so, and
has written a book about the campaign titled Yes we Can. About 30
stunning photographs accompanied her highly animated talk. These
superbly composed images, showing Obama in private moments with his
family or surrounded by security agents amidst an admiring public,
were at once both striking and touching.

Tufankjian spoke at length about the character of then-candidate Obama
and of the hopes and expectations he was so deft at inspiring-clearly
revealed in expressions of awe and admiration on the young faces in
her photographs. She brought to light a couple of Obama’s greatest
skills, namely, the ability to create the impression that he can
accomplish great things almost as though they have already been
achieved, and take issue with an opposing view in a disarming and
convincing manner. Several of Tufankjian’s images show Obama, the
"consummate politician," doing uncharacteristic things, like shooting
pool or stroking a cow’s face at a farm. Dramatic impact is created
through her concentration on details, the "smaller moments" as she
calls them. Her images offer a unique perspective of the campaign
through a creative choice of shooting angles, slower shutter speeds,
and off-center or asymmetric composition.

Scout Tufankjian is clearly a self-driven photojournalist who would
prefer to make herself known by creating long-term, lasting impressions
rather than shooting for short term, sensational gains.

That’s why, she says, this project was so important for her, as much
as it was for experimenting with photographic methods and learning
about this beautiful country. Her photographs successfully portray
the various sides of Obama, as much a doting father and husband as an
ultimate pragmatist. She discovered early on that Obama was a "man of
contrasts" and enormous self-discipline, and remarked on his ability
to remain calm and incredibly well focused throughout the ups and
downs of the campaign. She spoke pointedly of Obama’s self-control,
determination, and high self-esteem, attributes which we have come
to know in our president.

When Tufankjian was asked at the end of her talk how she reacted to
Obama’s failure to explicitly affirm the Armenian Genocide as he had
promised, she responded that she felt as an Armenian would be expected
to feel but was "not at all surprised." She remained professional
throughout the entire Q&A session by steadfastly refraining from
giving her own opinion of Obama’s performance during his presidency.