John Pinderhughes traveled to Mississippi photographing people from small coastal towns largely underserved by government aid. Many of the individuals he photographed were shrimpers who lost their livelihoods as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Pinderhughes is one of ten members of Kamoinge—a New York-based collective of African American photographers—who documented communities ravished by the hurricane and the devastation's far-reaching economic, social, and racial ramifications. The resulting body of work explores the despair, as well as the hope and resilience, of residents who have lived in these communities for generations.