InternationalTribute paid to photojournalist Harry Koundakjian
Published: Thursday April 16, 2009
Photojournalist Harry Koundakjian of The Associated Press.
Queens, N.Y. - Clergy, friends, and members of Hamazkayin were in attendance on April 3 at the Armenian Center in Queens, N.Y., for a celebration of international photojournalist Harry Koundakjian's 55 years in the profession.
The jubilee celebration was organized by Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society of New York under the auspices of Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of Armenian Church of America, Eastern United States.
Dr. Herand Markarian, chairperson of Hamazkayin, in his opening remarks welcomed all and invited Richard Pyle, an international photojournalist in his own right, to speak. Mr. Pyle is a colleague and friend of Mr. Koundakjian's.
Mr. Pyle grew up in Highland Park, Mich., a suburb of Detroit noted for its automotive history and its cosmopolitan citizenry. He began working as a journalist while in college and joined The Associated Press in Detroit in 1960.
Since then he has covered every kind of story - from sports and state government in Michigan to the U.S. Congress and other beats in Washington - and spent 16 years as a foreign correspondent, mainly in Asia and the Middle East, with special assignments in Europe, Cuba, and southern Africa.
During the Vietnam War, Mr. Pyle was a combat correspondent for five years, 1968-73, the last three as The AP's Saigon bureau chief. He has covered five other wars since - the Arab-Israeli war in 1973, Lebanon in 1976 and 1982, the Iraq-Iran war in the Persian Gulf in 1987-88, and the first Gulf War in 1990-91. Since 1992 he has been based in New York.
Among his most memorable assignments were Richard Nixon's departure from the White House in 1974; Cuba in 1977, where he visited the Bay of Pigs with Fidel Castro; the Three Mile Island nuclear crisis in 1979; and the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, which Richard and his wife Brenda saw from their Brooklyn rooftop.
Mr. Pyle has written two books - a biography of General Norman Schwarzkopf and Lost Over Laos, a story of four news photographers killed in the Vietnam War. He also was one of 12 authors of Breaking News, a history of The Associated Press from 1846 to the present, published in 2007.
Mr. Pyle talked about his friend and of the experiences he and Harry had shared. He emphasized Harry's devotion to the profession, the United States, and his Armenian heritage. Mr. Pyle during his childhood had many Armenian schoolmates in his hometown. He told some stories he had shared with Harry.
The second person to speak was Mr. Koundakjian's daughter Lola Koundakjian, a poet whose work has appeared in the Armenian Reporter. Lola started our reading a poem she had written. Then she went one to discuss a photojournalist's life from a family perspective - the concerns she and her mother shared when Dad was on duty overseas in dangerous places. Lola's pride in her father's profession and accomplishment was visible. As a commentator, she really valued her father's coverage of international news.
Then came Mr. Koundakjian's turn to present his work.
Mr. Koundakjian at age 22 found photojournalism in Beirut, working as photo-reporter for the French language daily L'Orient and its Arabic sister paper Al Jarida (The newspaper).
At the same time Harry freelanced for Magazine and Ousbou el-Arabi weeklies of Beirut, where he had over 300 cover picture-stories; for Time and Life magazines and The Associated Press; Paris Match, France-Soir as well as Dalmas and Keystone photo agencies of France; Illustrated London News magazine, The Daily Mail and The Daily Express and The London Times, and The Guardian.
He joined The Associated Press in Beirut in 1966 and covered all Middle East events, from military coups d'état to royal weddings and deaths, earthquakes in Turkey, Iran, and Morocco, a cyclone in East Pakistan, and more.
Being Armenian and neutral in Middle East conflicts, he was the only remaining photo-editor during and after the Munich Olympic massacre. He covered Miss Europe pageants during five years in Beirut, as well as the Pope's first visits to Jerusalem, East Pakistan, and Turkey.
He traveled with Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Cyrus Vance in the presidential aircraft during their shuttles to make peace between Arabs and Israel. He visited West Africa, where he accompanied Pat Nixon during her "goodwill" tour. Harry was supervising photo-editor for the Asian Olympics in Tehran.
He did several picture stories about Leila Khaled, who hijacked a TWA jetliner to Algiers and Damascus. He had front-page and cover photos of the Lufthansa hijack to Dubai by Palestinians, showing the hijacker aiming his pistol at the pilot's head. The pilot was later murdered, and his body was thrown from the plane in Aden.
Mr. Koundakjian covered the Lebanon crisis from 1973 until 1979, when he was transferred, with his family, to New York City headquarters as a multilingual photo editor responsible for publications' needs outside of the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Known as Harry "The Horse," he is now the international photo editor at The AP, in New York.
Harry, in a friendly and cordial way, gave capsule information about his work. Each of his slides represented an important event in the world. The audience was really absorbed by his comments.
Dr. Markarian invited Mrs. Koudakjian to the podium and on behalf of Hamazkayin presented to Mr. and Mrs. Koundakjian with a citation of honor.
