During the COVID-19 pandemic, photographer John Noltner sold his house in Minnesota, packed up all his belongings in an RV, and set off on a 900 day, 93,000 mile journey, to write his fourth book “Lessons on the Road to Peace.”

Everywhere he went, Noltner took photos, and asked locals to discuss issues that mattered to them. Whether he was talking about immigration reform, racial division or women’s reproductive healthcare, Noltner used photography and interviews to learn from those around him.

“Photography has always been my way to explore the world,” Noltner told The Dispatch on Tuesday. “It’s been my excuse to be able to sort of poke around in different corners of the world and understand it a little bit better.”

In April 2021, Noltner’s trip brought him to Columbus, where Mayor Keith Gaskin connected him with a few citizens he believed would form a kind of cross section of the city. Those four faces are now tucked between the 300+ pages of Noltner’s book, which came out in late December.

Participants included Mississippi School for Math and Science history teacher Chuck Yarborough, columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch Slim Smith, Friendly City Books owner Emily Liner and District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks.

“I want to make sure that people feel heard and seen and represented authentically,” Noltner said. “So there’s always a little bit of anxiety when a book like this comes out, wondering if people are going to feel like they’ve been represented accurately and fairly by this outside person who has come to visit for a little while.”

On the first page focused on Columbus, Noltner summarizes the relocation of the Confederate monument in front of the courthouse to Friendship Cemetery in May 2021. A few pages following each feature a Columbus citizen including their portrait, a summary of their role in the city and an excerpt of their interview with Noltner.

Smith, the first to appear on page 128, wrote to The Dispatch that his conversation with Noltner occurred during the “convergence” of events that focused on race and justice, including the death of George Floyd and the officer-involved shooting death of Ricky Ball.

Smith said he wondered what the conversation would have focused on only a few months later.

“From beginning to end, it’s a fascinating memoir of regular Americans at a particular point in time, an important point in time, I think,” Smith said. “I suspect anyone in the book would agree that he was accurate in his portrayals. There was no embellishment, at least, I felt that way in my own case.”

Across from Smith on the book’s pages, Brooks appears with the county courthouse behind him.

Brooks said the book shows a “true reflection” of his thoughts at the time, though, he also said the book made him notice how quickly conversations change, as he has hardly heard any comments about the monument’s relocation since it happened.

“For John Noltner to have made his way to Columbus on his journey, small town America, and to have reached out to a few people here… I think that’s something to be proud of,” Brooks said.

Brooks called the interview a “highlight” of his life.

Flipping the page, Liner appears in her bookstore. On Wednesday, she said Noltner seemed genuinely curious and interested in “hearing the whole story.”

“Sometimes when you’re talking about difficult subjects, you feel like you have to give the short version of the story,” Liner said. “And then you might say it the wrong way or leave something important out. Especially when you’re talking about different political beliefs or social issues, it can be easy to get into a heated argument about them. But he just wanted to listen.”

While only one page appeared in the final version of the book, Yarborough said he spent several hours talking to Noltner about the future of Columbus. The page that ended up appearing in the final version of the book emphasized the many people who are working to make the city a better place.

“We are just representative of hundreds of other people who are working toward that common good and that common end,” Yarborough said. “So I felt like those pages were really a nice representation of Columbus and Lowndes County.”

All four interviewees said the book represented them fairly, and all four complimented the book highly. Smith called the book a “rich, deep, remarkable work.”

Noltner called Columbus proof that “beauty and wisdom” exist everywhere, and his time writing the book proved to him that it’s important to take the time to stop and listen to others.

“Wherever you go, whatever the rhetoric and whatever the talking points are … things are more complex than that,” Noltner said. “And wherever you go, people are on the ground working on really thoughtful ways to make these decisions and really thoughtful ways to engage in these issues.
That’s what continues to give me hope in this divided world that we live in.”

The book is the latest installation in Noltner’s multimedia arts project “A Peace of My Mind,” which includes exhibits, workshops, lectures, on-site studios, a podcast and more. Noltner said a traveling exhibit featuring the portraits and stories from the book is currently on tour across the country.

So far, the exhibit has been shown in Michigan, Oregon and Minnesota, though Noltner is working on booking spots for it at venues across the country, including public places like colleges, community centers and “faith communities.”

Liner said she is planning to keep copies of “Lessons on the Road to Peace” at Friendly City Books, though they are not yet in stock. For more information on Noltner’s project, visit apomm.net.