Today was a day for images. A day of images. Think about it…
The Kenyan women celebrating, the jubilant mob in Times Square, Jessie Jackson crying, the incredible lines of voters, the American Flags… these enduring images carried the day. No matter how you heard the news, no matter where you were; what followed was a steady stream of incredible images that said more than words could.
As someone who knows the work, skill and effort involved in capturing enduring, meaningful images, I thought I’d take a moment today to recognize my fellow photojournalists out “in the field” bringing these incredible moments directly into our lives and our living rooms.
Newspapers turned their front pages sideways, to allow for more room for images.
The work truly is grueling. It’s physical, it’s tedious, it can be frustrating and it’s always challenging. Too often their work goes unrecognized. Their names hidden by the shroud of media sources like the AP, Reuters, or Getty Images.
Around The World…
Today I wanted to bring one of those anonymous photojournalists into your lives. Her name is Scout Tufankjian, and she’s a friend of a friend, as well as a fellow member of the National Press Photographers Association with me. Scout embodies the true work involved in photojournalism. Scout has been with Barack Obama for TWENTY THREE months. Not a photo op here, or a press briefing there… but 23 months.
Her work, much like some of my documentary work, isn’t the type of thing that you get to come home at night from. It requires true endurance, tenaciousness and dedication. Behind each of those images you saw over the past few days, there was some talented person working hard to capture it for us.
Click Scout Tufankjian’s image above to go directly to her site documenting Obama’s campaign.
If you get a chance, go check out Scout’s site (the secret service gallery is my favorite). She’s amazing… and is one of the many photojournalist’s whose names and faces are often hidden from view, but whose talents make historic nights everlasting.
To those in the field…. Thank you!
David - Brian, well done!
Jennifer - Brian- thanks for sharing Scout’s link. I looked through the photos and they are amazing!
anna - Very cool. Almost more of a visual impact 24 hours later.
Alana K. - So fun to see how this election has affected so many around the world!
It’s also easy to forget that there’s real people behind all of the amazing images that we’re seeing on a daily basis, and that these photojournalists are living in the same, often challenging conditions that they are documenting…Thanks for sharing this!