by johnnoltner
We’ve been toying with this idea for more than a year now. A Peace of My Mind’s work is out there. On the road. Everywhere. In 2019 we led programming in 20 states and on four continents. It’s good work. Mission-driven work. And more necessary every day. But every good thing has a cost. Last year Karen and I were apart for 170 nights. That’s too much. We got married because we like each other and after almost 29 years […]
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by johnnoltner
By now, you may have heard that A Peace of My Mind has launched a crowdfunding campaign. Cry Out: Voices calling for radical love and justice in a broken world. It’s time to gather new stories. But I’ll need your help. Our goal is to amplify the voices of people working at the leading edge of our most difficult challenges. Race, immigration, poverty and more. It’s time to interview people on the ground, working for change. We want to celebrate […]
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by johnnoltner
Public projection from John Noltner Photography on Vimeo. For 10 nights, we projected the stories we gathered from the George Floyd memorial. We amplified the voices of the people we encountered. We projected their portraits 20’ x 30’ on the side of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. And we climbed down off the rooftop to have conversations with the people who stopped to look. For me, it was a way to share the stories publicly in an immediate and […]
Categories: Blog, Uncategorized • Tags: George Floyd, Minneapolis, photography, portrait photography, projection, public art, stories
by johnnoltner
On Monday May 25, George Floyd was killed by police at the intersection of 38th and Chicago in Minneapolis. Because the COVID-9 pandemic had caused all my programming to be cancelled, I happened to be at home, 11.6 miles to the south. On Wednesday I went to see the site where a small memorial was taking shape and on Thursday returned with an improvised portable studio, a broken heart, and one simple question: “What do you want to say?” Over […]
Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: a peace of my mind, Black Lives Matter, blm, change, George Floyd, justice, Minneapolis, photography, protest, race
by johnnoltner
We are all hungry for some good news right now. Seek it out. Celebrate it. Use it as our true north and let it lead the way. But don’t turn away from the pain. Don’t dismiss the grief in some rush to return to feeling better. Lament. Sit with it. Wrestle with it. And use it to fuel a commitment to create real and lasting change. Authentic healing. A more just world. From the bottom up. I’m out of words […]
Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: a peace of my mind, Black Lives Matter, George Floyd, Minneapolis, storytelling
by johnnoltner
I’m tired today. But I’ll go back out there. Because my tired is nothing in the face of the soul-crushing weariness I see in my brothers and sisters on the street. My tired pales when it’s held side by side with the frustration I hear in the voices of the people. My tired is no excuse when you begin to recognize the heavy burden that has been carried for days and years and decades of calling out and not being […]
Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: a peace of my mind, George Floyd, justice, listening, Minneapolis, photography, protest, race, storytelling
by johnnoltner
On Wednesday, I went to 38th and Chicago, where George Floyd was killed by police Monday night. Yesterday, I returned with a bare studio kit, set up on the sidewalk and asked a simple question: “What do you want to say?” The memorial on the sidewalk had grown since the day before. The street was now covered in messages of grief, determination and hope. A mural of George was being painted on a wall. Cars blocked the streets. Families brought […]
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by johnnoltner
I kept my phone off yesterday. It was a writing day and I’ve been struggling to stay separated from the headlines. Just before dinner, I decided to scroll through social media and saw the news of George Floyd. In Minneapolis. 11.6 miles from my home. I was tired. From a long day. From the steady stream painful news. From social distancing. I thought about turning my phone back off again. I didn’t know what to say. Words have been hard […]
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by johnnoltner
Our third book is on its way! The wheels of the book publishing world turn slowly and I want to share a little bit about the journey of how we got to this point. My first two books were self-published, which comes with the blessing of being able to control everything, as well as the curse of having to control everything. I’ve been fortunate to work in publishing for years, so I am surrounded by a good crew of editors […]
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by johnnoltner
I hope you all are doing well in this new world. I know a lot of you are out of work. You are feeling restless. Figuring out how to work remotely while you juggle three kids in a distance learning home. I know that some of you have missed the chance to say goodbye to loved ones. You’ve only seen your newborn grandchild on Facetime and you haven’t yet felt the warmth of their baby breath on your neck. […]
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