A Katrina Photographer Returns to New Orleans — Again and Again

The First Mardi Gras
Members of the Ninth Ward Marching Band play during an unofficial parade in 2006. In the introduction to Coming Back, Tama writes, "I feel privileged to have been a witness to the feat of faith and courage that New Orleans showed in overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds. I saw their lives and worldly possessions reduced to rubble, and I saw them collect that rubble and rebuild it piece by piece."

• Mario Tama's book: Coming Back, New Orleans Resurgent
• TIME: Katrina, Five Years Later