John Pinderhughes is one of a small group of successful African American photographers working today. He has worked as a commercial photographer in New York City for the past 30 years, operating his own full service studio for the past 25 years. At the same time he has pursued a career as a fine art photographer, and his work has been featured regularly in exhibitions.

Pinderhughes's commercial work can best be described as "real people" and "illustration" photography. His regular clients include major advertising agencies, record companies, magazines, and corporations. Recent clients include Con Edison, Publix Supermarkets, Sony, Verizon, American Family Insurance, BMW, Chase Bank, and Anheuser-Busch Companies.

His striking images have garnered the recognition of commercial art directors and gallery/museum curators, as well as satisfying the interests of their diverse and separate audiences. Pinderhughes's talent and reputation for excellence have been recognized with awards from The Art Directors Club and various advertising, design, and magazine competitions, such as the Clio Awards and CEBA Awards.

Pinderhughes considers his fine art photography not as an appendage of his commercial work, but as a separate sphere. His images explore variations in pattern, texture, light, and line. He has been widely exhibited and is represented in major collections including the Picker Art Gallery at Colgate University, the Museum of Modern Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Menil Foundation.

Born in Washington, DC, and reared in Alabama and New Jersey, Pinderhughes studied at Howard University. His love of photography was ignited while working in Africa with Operation Crossroads. His own family's celebration of its African heritage permeates his more recently developed passion for collecting and photographing African art.

Pinderhughes is the author of a cookbook, Family of the Spirit (Simon & Schuster, 1990), and four children's books, and was the illustrator of Coming Together by Harriette Cole (Hyperion, 2003); other books are in the works. Pinderhughes has served on the board of the Advertising Photographers of America. He currently serves on the board of the South Fork Shelter Island chapter of The Nature Conservancy, where his love of nature and art is reflected in both word and deed, including the production of a magnificent portfolio of landscape images of his beloved "East End."

Pinderhughes is a member of Kamoinge, a New York-based collective of African American photographers. He is married and the father of two lovely daughters.