“That motherf–er is going to be president!”

Just read a great interview with photo-journalist (and my neighbor) Scout Tufankjian in The Brooklyn Paper.  Tufankjian wisely predicted very early on in the game (December 2006) that Barack Obama was going to run for president and begged her editor to let her cover his not-yet-existent campaign.  Here she recounts a stop by Obama at a coffee shop-bookstore two months before his announcement:

“One person asked him to sign her copy of ‘Lady Chatterly’s Lover,’ and they got into a long talk about the book. Then the next person asked him about philosophy and suddenly they were talking about Kant and Heidegger. I thought, ‘Wow, this guy is smart.”

She also tells the story of overhearing a phone conversation three boys in an inner-city neighborhood were having with a friend who couldn’t make it to an Obama rally:

“They were razzing him because he was at work, saying, ‘Your boy is here and you’re missing it! That motherf–er is going to be president!’ That sort of became our joke throughout the campaign. When things looked good for him, we’d say, ‘That motherf–er is going to be president.’ Then at the end, in Grant Park last week, we said, ‘That motherf–er is president!”

Yes he is.

Her 250-picture book Yes We Can is coming out on December 8th, 2008 and you can pre-order it from the publisher, Brooklyn’s powerHouse Books, here for only $29.95.  You can also enjoy hundreds of her stunning photographs from the campaign trail at her personal web site.  Highly recommended.

Posted by Kevin K. on 11/19/08 at 09:58 AM • Permalink

Categories: ImagesPoliticsElection '08Barack ObamaJoe Biden


Someone (HB? Manamongst?) posted a link to her photos back during the primaries (I think), and they were incredibly good. Does the president get to pick his official photog? If so, President Obama should give Scout Tufankjian a call…

Comment by Betty Cracker on 11/19/08 at 10:09 AM

Someone (HB? Manamongst?) posted a link to her photos back during the primaries (I think), and they were incredibly good.

Hmmmm, must’ve missed them.  This is the first time I’ve come across them. 

Yeah, she’s a great photographer.

Comment by Kevin K. on 11/19/08 at 10:15 AM

WoW. Those photos are AMAZING. Thanks for sharing—and the book tip. : )

Comment by J. on 11/19/08 at 11:33 AM

They ARE amazing.  Her use of perspective just puts you right in the picture and captures the moment perfectly.  I’ll be buying the book and watching her career!

Comment by marindenver on 11/19/08 at 12:53 PM

Yes, I did provide a link to her work, in fact I picked the link from TBogg back in July/August if I’m not mistaken. Her stuff is brilliant.

Comment by HumboldtBlue on 11/19/08 at 01:24 PM

Check out picture # 42 at http://www.scouttufankjian.com/main.php

look closely

PRICELESS!!!

Comment by scooter on 11/19/08 at 07:54 PM

Oh man, you had to bold that cheaper comment? Can’t show some support for the nation’s last independent photo book publisher based in Brooklyn? Maybe you might get a signedbook if you keep it local, my friend?

Comment by D. Power on 11/19/08 at 10:14 PM
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