"I came by Tube" - art on the Tube (London)

"I came by Tube" - by Goshka Macuga (2013)

As spotted in London underground (Tube), Piccadilly station.

Alleged photo evidence on beating in the Armenian army

On 25 May 2009 Ankakh.am posted a report on corruption in the Armenian army. Report ends with photos (below) which allegedly made via mobile phone and show how an officer was beating a conscript, presumably at one of the Armenian army bases.

Why no one is investigating these claims? Why no other Armenian media reports on this case demanding an investigation? OK, Ankakh.am is a very recent addition to the growing number of Armenian online news outlets, people may not be aware of it yet, but some should have noticed it. When reports on video evidence of violence and bullying revealed re Azerbaijani army (see here and here), these cases got immediately publicised via Armenian news outlets too. And rightly so. Officials from the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan were initially casting doubts on that online evidence saying that it was staged to discredit the Azeri army etc. etc. However, they were eventually forced to open an investigation, and arrests were made.

So why is this silence about the allegations on our own cases?

Armenia: Past Scandals

Always scandalous Armenian photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan, Aravot daily editor in sex scandal, and more...

Photos of allegedly corrupt university lecturers 'greeted' Yerevan residents this morning

UPDATE (!): OK, apparently, it's pro-government Miasin youth group behind this. Call me biased, but I do not trust them. Although I like the idea behind this action, I cannot trust the organisers, as they are not independent in their actions. You may no longer pay attention to my initially put "Student rebellion?" sub-heading.

Student rebellion?

Tert.am reports that this morning photos of allegedly corrupt university officials, lecturers etc. appeared at Yerevan bus stops, metro stations, universities, other busy spots. There is brief ‘bio’ of those pictured provided there. Captions of photos read “Bribe-taker”.

Police and university officials are now busy with the ‘cleaning up’.



«Կաշառակերների» նկարները փակցված են Երևանի փողոցներում

Tert.am

Այսօր առավոտյան Երևանի կանգառներում, բուհերի պատերին և այլ մարդաշատ վայրերում փակցված էին տասնյակից ավելի հայրենի մանկավարժների լուսանկարները «Կաշառակերներ» վերնագրով։

Բացի մանկավարժների դեմքերից, պաստառները կարճ ծանոթացնում էին «մատաղ սերնդի դաստիարակների» անցած ուղու հետ։

Ամենուր «կաշառակերների» մոտ մարդկանց բազմություն է կուտակվում։ Ոստիկանությունը, իր հերթին, հասկանալով, թե ինչ է կատարվում, շրջափակել է «Երիտասարդական» մետրոյի մոտակա կանգառը և ստորգետնյա անցումը և ակտիվորեն պայքարում է «կաշառակերության» դեմ՝ պոկելով պաստառները։

Իսկ Երևանի մանկավարժական համալսարանի ղեկավարությունը արդեն վաղ առավոտյան հասցրել է հանձնարարել լվանալ պատերը ուսանողների՝ մեծ հետաքրքրությունը վայելող դասախոսների նկարներից։ Բուհի պատերն այժմ «անվտանգ են»։ «Կաշառակերներից» միայն թաց տեղ է մնացել։

*photo and video - via Tert.am

Turkish model Melek Yargici stripped naked to protest Israeli actions in Gaza

*source: kultura.az

New York plane crash: Reporting power of Internet and blogging

Iconic image of New York plane crash

Telegraph - New York plane crash: Twitter breaks the news, again

Within minutes of US Airways flight 1549 ditching in New York's Hudson river, the blogosphere was buzzing with the news. Emails, Twitter messages, mobile phone photos and hazy videos about the crash flitted across cyberspace. Some reassured friends and loved ones that all was well; others simply documented the unfolding drama as all 155 passengers and crew made their way to safety using the jet's inflatable emergency chutes.

Twitter, the increasingly popular microblogging service, was, as ever, leading the pack. When dozens of New York-based Twitter users started sending 'tweets' about a possible plane crash in the city, the news spread like wildfire across the Twitterverse. Indeed, Twitter users broke the news of the incident around 15 minutes before the mainstream media alerted viewers and readers to the crash. The first recorded tweet about the crash came from Jim Hanrahan, aka Manolantern, four minutes after the plane went down, who wrote: "I just watched a plane crash into the hudson riv [sic] in manhattan".

And it wasn't just text messages that were telling the story; photos, too, were playing their part. Twitter user and iPhone owner Janis Krums was on one of the New York commuter ferries diverted to pick up the stranded airline passengers. He used his mobile phone to take a dramatic snap of the downed plane, and uploaded it to TwitPic, a service that enables Twitter users to instantly share their snaps over Twitter. "There's a plane in the Hudson," Krums tweeted . "I'm on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy."

His dramatic image was instantly forwarded across the Twitterverse and picked up by numerous blogs and news websites, causing the TwitPic service to crash under the sheer weight of user numbers. Noah Everett, TwitPic's founder, said it showed the powerful "snowball effect" of social media. [...]

See also - LA Times - Citizen photo of Hudson River plane crash shows Web's reporting power

*source of photo

Scout Tufankjian – Obama’s Armenian photographer

Armenian-American photographer Scout Tufankjian is the only independent photographer to have covered Obama’s entire campaign from before he announced his candidacy through the Election Night celebration in Chicago’s Grant Park. Tufankjian has amassed an archive of some 12 000 images as she crossed the country countless times documenting this historic campaign. She lives in Brooklyn, and has a B.A. in Political Science from Yale. Before covering the Obama campaign, Tufankjian worked photographing the conflict in the Middle East, primarily the Gaza Strip, for four years. Tufankjian’s photographs have been published in major newspapers and magazines, including Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, People, The Guardian, ELLE, Esquire, Essence, Rolling Stone, Fortune, The Times of London, Stern, Der Spiegel, and many others.

Publishers informed Unzipped about the 12 December 2008 release of YES WE CAN: Barack Obama's History-Making Presidential Campaign book by Scout Tufankjian.

Yes We Can is the story of Barack Obama’s historic, world-changing journey from junior senator for Illinois to President of the United States of America as documented by Scout Tufankjian. It’s a comprehensive and intimate portrait of the man, his run, and his supporters. With more than 200 amazing photographs by Tufankjian, the book takes the reader along on Obama’s personal and political journey.

According to the press-release, the first printing of 55 000 copies of Yes We Can has sold out before the book was even released, and has already created a buzz of interest throughout the nation.

Below are selected extracts from a fascinating interview with Tufankjian (by powerHouse Books) detailing her experiences on the campaign trail.

How did you first get involved in photographing Barack Obama?
Scout Tufankjian: The first time I photographed Barack Obama, I didn’t want to go. I knew who he was and was interested in him but I had plans for that weekend and I didn’t want to drive five hours to New Hampshire to photograph what I assumed would be a deadly dull event. But when my editor at Polaris Images found someone to pay me, I canceled my plans and drove up to Portsmouth.

The building the event was in was dark, cavernous, and impossible to find. I showed up late and in a panic. Looking around at the space, I wondered why I had even bothered—but when Obama walked into the room, the crowd went nuts. When he started talking, they became completely transfixed. Hell, some of the other news photographers were transfixed—and this was New Hampshire! New Hampshire photographers are not impressed by politicians. Ever.

Immediately after the event was over, even before filing my pictures, I called my agent and told her that I was going to cover the Obama presidential campaign. I did not offer her a choice. The fact that he wasn’t technically running yet didn’t really seem that important to me.

As a member of the press corps, you were living a whole other life that few of us can even imagine. What were your days and nights like?
ST: I don’t know if you have ever read The Boys on the Bus, but it was pretty much exactly like that only with more female reporters, better technology, and fewer hard drugs. […]

What was it like to tour the United States ? What kind of surprises did you encounter?
[…] It is a huge cliché but the thing that really struck me was how similar Americans all are. Of course everything seems similar when you are seeing the country out of the window of a bus or from the inside of a hotel bar or at an Obama rally. But despite the country’s obvious physical differences (you are never going to confuse Montana and South Carolina), the people are not all that different.

What were your interactions like with the American people as you attended the rallies, which increased in size and fervor, as well as the more intimate gatherings?
ST: The people that came to see him were pretty much the only thing that kept me (relatively) sane throughout this process. I loved seeing their excitement and hearing their stories. I have always considered his supporters to be the real story of the campaign. Obama is obviously an inspirational figure to people but I think they are the real force behind this movement: the young people, the older people who tossed away their cynicism and disbelief, the military families, the auto workers, the teachers…

You watched Obama rise from a junior Senator to the President—what sort of transformations did you witness in his personal, professional, and public personas?
ST: I think the strangest thing about Obama is how little he has changed. Up until election night, when you could really see the weight of his responsibilities bearing down on him, he has seemed to be the exact same guy at the beginning that he was at the end. Certainly he was more tired, his hair was grayer, and his relationship with us soured somewhat after photographers followed him during private moments, but on the whole he changed very little.

Was there any pressure from anyone regarding what you could and couldn’t, or should and shouldn’t photograph?
ST: Not really. The AP and the networks had worked out a deal with the campaign that we weren’t supposed to photograph him in gym clothes (not sure why, but he does wear a super dorky gym outfit) and that we were supposed to leave the kids alone during private moments, but beyond that there were no rules.

Was there a point where you realized you were part of something historic?
ST: There were tons of moments where I stepped back and realized that I was witnessing something truly historic. The most memorable was during our South Carolina swing. I can’t even imagine what the older black folks in South Carolina have had to live through but I do know that they have been crushingly disappointed over and over again. Talking to those men and women about how they were allowing themselves to believe again and how they still could not believe that this could happen in their lifetimes was the most moving part of the campaign for me.

What is the one thing you would have never predicted back in December 2006?
ST: Honestly? I don’t know if I actually thought that he was going to win. I mean, I must have, but he didn’t just win. America voted for a black guy named Barack Hussein Obama, not in a time of safety and economic security but in the midst of some of the darkest times this country has known. Isn’t the cliché that people retreat to the familiar in times of crisis? In this case they didn’t. I don’t know if I could have predicted that.


*Photo credit: from Yes We Can by Scout Tufankjian, published by Melcher Media/powerHouse Books

Welcome to the White House (Washington, D.C.)

Armenian sport life in the pre-WWI Ottoman Empire

Fascinating online exhibition launched by The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.

"Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire before total uprooting as a consequence of premeditated and state–orchestrated genocide plan of the elimination of the Armenian nation on the territory of the Ottoman Turkey circa 1915 was among well modernized elements of the empire which although the segregationist and discriminative nature of the ottomans played significant role in the social, economical and cultural life of the empire.

The European influence and the acknowledgment with the traditions and principles of the European education triggered unprecedented activity in the sport life and sportive activity.

Enough to say that dozens of Armenian sport clubs and boy scout organizations appeared among the Armenian communities from Istanbul to Van, from Trabzon to Adana.

The first time in the history of Turkish Olympic games two Armenian sportsmen represented the Ottoman Turkey in the fifth international Olympic games in Stockholm in 1912 (those were Vahan Phapazyan and Mkrtich Mkryan). Many Armenian teams and individuals permanently scored victories and records in the multinational and intercommoned competitions and championships.

*Mkrtich Mkryan, participant of the Fifth Olympic games in Stockholm, Robert College campus, “Marmnamarz”, July 5, 1912

*Vahram Papazyan, Fifth Olympic games in Stockholm, “Marmnamarz”, 1912

It’s interesting enough that from 1911 to 1914 four “Armenian Olympic games” were organized with the participation of all Armenian sport clubs. Winners of the competitions were awarded with silver medals.

*Silver medal which was granted to the winners of the Second Armenian Olympic games in 1912

*Vagharshak Varjapetyan, winner of the Armenian Olympic games and international competitions in Constantinople, bicyclist, “Marmnamarz”, 1911

The idea of creation of separate Armenian football league was not realized because of the WWI and subsequent start of genocide policy against the Ottoman Armenians, during which many Armenian sportsman became victims of the first genocide of the 20th century."

*The football team and athletic club “Atlas” of Nikomedia, “Marmnamarz”, 1913

*The Armenian Youth “Tsitsernak” football team, Istanbul, 1910s

For more photos - visit the online exhibition

AGBU launches Photo Archive on Flickr

In a welcome move, Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) launches Photo Archive on Flickr.

*Courtyard of the Aleppo Ottoman barracks, converted into a reception center for genocide survivors returning from their places of deportation. Aleppo, probably late 1918. (source)

"Included among the treasures is the never before seen AGBU YPGNY Ellen Gerard Collection (pictured below) which was purchased by the AGBU Young Professional of Greater New York in 2000 and has been under lock and key until today."

*A page from the Gerard Album depicting the nurse (right) who amassed the collection and a blind boy (left) who, according to Gerard’s politically-incorrect caption, “regained enough sight to become useful.” (source)

AGBU's Flickr page

Photos of Levon Ter-Petrosyan... surrounded... Liberty sq, 1 March 2008