Kenyan-born Photographer Polly Irungu Exits White House Ahead Of Trump Inauguration
This statement marks the conclusion of her tenure as the Official Photo Editor for outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris and as an Official White House Photographer
Viral Tea Ke Writer 
Kenyan-born photojournalist Polly Irungu has announced her exit from the White House after three years. This is as the Joe Biden government prepares to officially hand over the reins to the regime of US President-elect Donald Trump today.
In an emotional statement on X (formerly Twitter), Irungu on Monday, January 20 thanked outgoing President Biden while reflecting on her experiences during her time at the White House.
"When I developed a love for visual storytelling and worked at McDonald's in school to save up for my first camera," she stated.
"I never thought my passion would take me to the White House. After nearly three years, today was my last day. Thank you, Mr President, Adam, and Lawrence."
Polly Irungu, the first official Photo Editor for the Office of the VP to the Biden-Harris Administration. /POLLY IRUNGU
This statement marks the conclusion of her tenure as the Official Photo Editor for outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris and as an Official White House Photographer, a role she took up on July 29, 2022.
Irungu is a celebrated and accomplished photojournalist with more than 15 awards and honours. She held several roles in her career with some of the world's biggest companies after she attained a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oregon.
She was born in Nairobi and has lived around the world from Topeka, Kansas, Eugene, Oregon and New York and is now based in Washington, D.C.
During her tenure as a content creator at Twitter, she was selected for the first class of Hosts for Twitter's Spaces Spark Program, a three-month accelerator initiative that is designed to discover and reward great Spaces on Twitter with financial, technical, and marketing support.
She was also a content creator at LinkedIn, one of 100 US-based creators accepted into LinkedIn's first class of creators. The professional networking platform had announced that it was investing Ksh2.97 billion (US$25 million) into a 10-week program providing 100 U.S. creators with grants, coaching and networking support.
Other companies she has worked with include WeTransfer, the National Press Photographers Association and New York Public Radio where she was the digital editor.
Some of her works have been featured in global media houses such as The New York Times, Reuters, BBC News, CNN, the Washington Post and BuzzFeed.
Irungu previously teamed with Nikon USA to award selected photographers approximately Ksh5.9 million (USD 50,000) in grants and cash prizes to help their businesses and encourage other women.
Her photography works were in 2020 featured on the US Times Square billboards in New York City. Times Square receives an estimated 50 million visitors a year, making it one of the world's top destinations.
