Portraits of Peace: Searching for Hope in a Divided America

Frustrated with an increasingly polarized social landscape, award-winning photographer John Noltner set out on a 40,000-mile road trip across the United States to rediscover the common humanity that connects us. He did so by asking people one simple question: ""What does peace mean to you?"" Through difficult conversations, gentle humor, and a keen eye for beauty, Noltner's Portraits of Peace captures a rich collage of who we are as a nation.

Beautiful storytelling and captivating photography converge to offer a uniquely human and accessible examination of the social issues that most challenge us today, such as racial equality, immigration reform, LGBTQ+ rights, women's rights, freedom of religion, and tolerance. Through the real-world stories of ordinary citizens who choose, in the midst of difficult circumstances, to pursue healing, reconciliation, and community building, we discover a glimmer of hope that something better is possible.

Portraits of Peace offers a promising road map to a peaceful future as a pluralistic society.

John Noltner is a gifted storyteller and photographer who has worked on four continents, gathering accounts of human courage, grace, and resilience. His work has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, Forbes, Midwest Living, and New York Daily News. His series A Peace of My Mind has been produced as two award-winning books and four exhibits that travel the country for presentations such as the Nobel Peace Prize Forum, Everyday Democracy, the National Civil Rights Museum, and the Gandhi-King Conference on Nonviolence. John, his wife Karen, and their dog Bailey have pulled up their anchor in Bloomington, Minnesota, and taken their life on the road full-time in search of stories of hope, healing, and transformation.