New York-based photographer John Pinderhughes has combined careers in advertising and fine art photography. His commercial work includes advertising campaigns for major corporations while his fine art has developed quite separately. Pinderhughes is known for expansive landscapes and pictures that explore the relationship between people and their environment, traditions, and points of view. Although he describes himself as “primarily self-taught,” his photographs display a deep understanding of light, shape, and form. His work has been exhibited at many galleries, including New York City’s Museum of Modern Art and The Studio Museum in Harlem, and has appeared in several books, including Barbara Millstein’s Committed to the Image: Contemporary Black Photographers (2001). He has published several books of his own, including cookbooks and children’s books.

John Pinderhughes was born on January 28, 1946, in Washington, D.C. He was raised in Alabama and New Jersey, where he attended Montclair High School before going on to Howard University to major in marketing. Though he attended from 1964 to 1968, Pinderhughes did not complete his degree, dropping out in his senior year to take up photography. He later attended the WNET Film and Television Training School in 1971 and 1972.