Coming Back

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Life in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina

August 26, 2010


Two men paddle in high water after Hurricane Katrina
devastated the area August 31, 2005 in New Orleans.
(Photos by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Umbrage Editions is publishing the forthcoming book, COMING BACK: New Orleans Resurgent, featuring the imagery captured by Getty Images photographer Mario Tama, with a introduction by Anderson Cooper. As the eyes of the world are focused on the Gulf Coast, as the BP oil spill advances across the waters, we are reminded of the fragility of the environment and communities of that region. This book contextualizes the fifth anniversary of Katrina with a primary focus on the ongoing need for rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast, now more needed than ever. Of the vast amount of media coverage that shocked the nation and caused a moral outcry of conscience at governmental mismanagement and near-criminal inaction, the images by photographer Mario Tama depict the situation. When the catastrophe waned and other press went away, Tama stayed with the support and encouragement of his colleagues at Getty Images and continued to document the process of recovery and some of its
terrible failures. His constancy has resulted in a large body of work that displays the resilience of the human spirit even amid such immense struggle, creating an optimistic portrait of New Orleans rather than one of only destruction. An exhibition opening at Umbrage Gallery, New York will accompany the launch of the book and 100 percent of Getty Images royalties will go to New Schools for New Orleans, a nonprofit organization at the heart of a remarkably successful effort to overhaul public education in a recovering city.

As a news photographer for Getty Images, Mario Tama has captured imagery from important events happening in the world around us, including the earthquake in Haiti, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, September 11 and the funeral of Pope John Paul II. His unforgettable photographs from Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath, which were featured in National Geographic, Newsweek, various newspapers and other media around the world, earned him the Cliff Edom’s New America Award at the NPPA Best of Photojournalism Awards. He studied photography at Rochester Institute of Technology and freelanced in Washington, DC for the Washington Post and
Agence France-Presse before joining Getty Images in 2001.

Anderson Cooper joined CNN in 2001 and has anchored his own program, Anderson Cooper 360, since 2003. He previously served as a correspondent for ABC News and was a foreign correspondent for Channel One News. Cooper has won several awards for his work, including multiple Emmy awards. He writes regularly for Details magazine.

Hardcover / $45 USD
Art / Photography / Current Events
9? x 12? / 128 pages
Color photographs
ISBN: 978-1–884167–02-7