Meet John Noltner | Photographer, storyteller and inspirational speaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with John Noltner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi John, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Trying new things involves risk. Sometimes we try to reduce the amount of risk in our lives, but in the process, we insulate ourselves from some of what is best about life. Amazing experiences and rich relationships. My wife Karen and I sold our house in the fall of 2020 and in the midst of a global pandemic, we went fully nomadic. First in a 34-foot RV and now downsized into a van named Vinny (Van-Go).

From day one, we said the weirdest thing about it is that didn’t seem weird. And that’s probably because we’ve spent a lifetime becoming comfortable with risk. Not foolishness…that’s a different thing entirely…but risk. Uncertainty. Vulnerability. Adventure, And trying something new.

I quit my full time studio photography job to pursue my own clients three months after we bought our first house and three months before our first child was born. Over the course of my career, there were several times I turned away work from smaller yet dependable clients in order to make room for new opportunities and bigger projects. And when the great recession bottomed out my business and handed me some free time, we retooled and started a long term storytelling project called A Peace of My Mind that has now become my life’s work still today.

That’s maybe the best part about getting older. Maybe wiser. You realize that you’ve made it through hard times before. You can see the arc of experience and sometimes you took risks and they didn’t pan out…yet you survived. And other times you took risks and you found a path forward…and it was glorious.

You can’t control it all. Do your best and enjoy the journey.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve spent my career as a photographer, shooting for national magazines and Fortune 500 companies. I’ve shot travel projects across the country and around the world. But in 2009, I started a small independent project called A Peace of My Mind. I interview and photograph people from all walks of life and try to amplify the voices of others who are finding creative solutions to some of our most complex challenges. Immigration, race, homelessness, the environment.

What started as a small personal project has now become my life’s work. We have three books and four traveling exhibits. We lead lectures and workshops about how storytelling can connect us and we use the stories to encourage dialogue around challenging issues.

We work with colleges, conferences and community organizations, using storytelling and art to help them articulate their mission, vision and values in the world. In the process, we uncover the power of the individual as we seek to say to everyone we encounter, I see you, I hear you, and you matter.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people who have influenced my path, but when I was at a pretty dark part of my journey, I photographed a man named Rahelio in Sedona, Arizona. He was a healer and was leading my wife Karen on a dream journey as I photographed a travel story for the New York Daily News. At one point he said this: “Don’t work against the things you hate. Work for the things you love.” And for me, it was a game changer. I had been investing a ridiculous amount of energy being frustrated with all the things that ask us to focus on what separates us. This was when I started playing with the idea behind A Peace of My Mind, which is to rediscover the common humanity that connects us.

Website: https://apomm.net/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apommstories/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/apeaceofmymind1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100047615214322

Other: Our newest book, Portraits of Peace: Searching for Hope in a Divided America https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9781506471211/Portraits-of-Peace

Image Credits
A Peace of My Mind