listen | A Peace of My Mind

Pay Attention

September 23, 2020 by johnnoltner

When I was shooting a lot of travel assignments, I noticed a predictable—if mildly uncomfortable—process unfold. As I drove to the location, whether it was an autumn fly-fishing stream in Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota, or a grain truck sunset tour of the Kansas wheat fields, I worried. It was hard to see the potential in the shoot. I could feel the anxiety well up. The light was no good. Power lines traced the length of the trout stream. Billboards marred […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: a peace of my mind, creativity, cry out, listen, patience, pay attention, prayer, storytelling, travel

Do they cry?

October 20, 2017 by johnnoltner

She walked right up to me. I think she was in 8th grade. “Can I ask you a question?” she wondered. Of course. “Do they cry? These people you interview?” Often, I told her…and so do I. There is something powerful about an open and honest exchange. When you give someone your full attention and make it clear that what they have to say is important, it can be a moving experience. “I’m Syrian,” she said, “and sometimes when I […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: Alaska, connection, cry, Holocaust, human, listen, stories, Syria, together, tradition

Holden Village

August 25, 2017 by johnnoltner

For two weeks this month we had one of our exhibits at Holden Village, a remote, intentional community tucked into a beautiful wilderness valley of Washington’s Cascade Mountains. It’s the third time I’ve been to Holden, and each time I take away new lessons. Each time I decide to stay longer the next time. I don’t think of it as a retreat. Yes, you get away from some of the hectic pace of daily life. You remove yourself from the […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: advocate, ally, Holden, learn, listen, peace, support, vulnerable

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I wish…

February 6, 2017 by johnnoltner

At the end of our dinner presentation at the Center for Transforming Communities, we closed with one final exercise. After hearing many of the inspiring stories from A Peace of My Mind, people are ready to dream big. We ask everyone in the room to take a piece of paper and finish this phrase: I wish…. They can finish the phrase any way that they like…we encourage them to aim high, and they often do. Everyone in the room feels […]

Categories: Blog, Uncategorized • Tags: art, commitment, community, listen, memphis, peace, transformation, wish

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Listening

November 6, 2016 by johnnoltner

More than anything, I find that A Peace of My Mind is a project about listening. It’s a skill that’s in short supply these days. We listen with the goal of responding, correcting, debating, convincing or coercing, but what if we simply listened for the sake of understanding? And another thing… 😉 We are quick to point out things that are wrong…ways we have been disrespected, disappointed, offended, or made mad. Just look at your social media stream today and […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: American Stories, Augustana, black and white, community, Illinois, listen, photography, reconciliation, share, story, students

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Young Voices

November 1, 2016 by johnnoltner

For the past four years I have worked with 5th graders at FAIR School in Crystal as artist in residence for their Perspectives Program. Each fall we install the exhibit, do a presentation for all 85 students and then over several days, I visit each classroom and work with students to explore their own thoughts about peace. They write their ideas in peace journals which we eventually pass on to a crew of artists from Stages Theater who craft the […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: crystal, fair, listen, Minnesota, peace, stories, theater, voices, writing, youth

Talat Hamdani

September 12, 2016 by johnnoltner

Like all of us, I have a clear memory of that day 15 years ago. I remember the replayed television footage, the quiet skies. I was scheduled to leave for Africa on September 17. So little made sense and even less felt certain. Since that day I have been to Ground Zero three times. The first time, it was still a construction zone. Most recently, we toured the moving museum at the site. We found the name of Thomas Burnett, who […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: 9-11, a peace of my mind, American Stories, APoMM, Ground Zero, healing, listen, Muslim, New York, NYC, peace, stories

Our book update

July 6, 2016 by johnnoltner

I owe you a story from our upcoming book, but the deadlines are looming, and I hope you’ll settle for an update for now. We have 10 days left of our Indiegogo campaign. We have raised more than $10,000 of our $25,000 goal. I just came back from a production meeting with the printer and designer, and as we head into the home stretch, I want to share with you a few things that I believe. I believe we are […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: a peace of my mind, American Stories, APoMM, art, books, diversity, healing, hope, listen, listening, peace, photography, portrait, social justice, stories

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From the Summit

June 27, 2016 by johnnoltner

A continuing series from the Sojourners Summit for Change last week. To learn more about this series, click here.

Categories: Blog • Tags: American Stories, APoMM, black and white, dialog, diversity, healing, listen, listening, mypeace, peace, photography, portrait, race, reconcilliation, sojourners, stories

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Stories from the Summit

June 25, 2016 by johnnoltner

It’s a lighter, faster version of A Peace of My Mind. Over the past three days, Karen and I gathered stories and photographed 50 participants at the Sojourners Summit for Change in Washington DC. The pace was quick, but the stories were rich. Not only did we photograph and gather stories, we immediately processed and produced the shots to be projected before the large group gatherings, twice each day. We seeded the process a bit, with some attendees agreeing before hand […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: APoMM, B&W, dialog, listen, peace, photography, race, reconciliation, social justice, sojourners, sories

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A Peace of My Mind

Building community and bridging divides through portraits and personal stories.

Tag: listen

Pay Attention

Do they cry?

Holden Village

I wish…

Young Voices

Talat Hamdani

From the Summit