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PRESENTATIONS, SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS AND PRIVATE COACHING
Chris Noble has appeared as an educator and featured speaker at the National Geographic Society, the Banff Mountain Film Festival, the Mountaineers Club, the Outdoor Photo Expo (sponsored by Photo District News), the Moab Photographic Symposium, as well as camera clubs, colleges, universities, and workshops nationwide.
Drawing on thirty years exploring the earth’s wild places as an adventurer, photographer, and writer, Noble combines eloquent story telling with breath-taking imagery to bring a fresh inspiring perspective to the themes of: Adventure; Creativity as a Spiritual Practice; Re-connecting People and the Earth; Conservation and Sustainability; and Photography as an Art Form, Profession, and Way of Life.
RECENT THEMES INCLUDE:
Nature and Creativity: From the oldest cave paintings to the digital media of today, creative expression inspired by nature has always formed the heart and soul of human experience. People have sought peace, solace, and integration in nature, then used art to share what they have learned. In today’s frenetic technological society this connection is more important than ever. Nature gives us the opportunity to slow down and “allow our soul’s to catch up. ” It allows us to re-connect with something larger and more lasting than ourselves. Art is not just for artists. Participating in art is every person’s birthright, a fundamental human activity essential to appreciate the grace notes of our lives. In this presentation Noble explores creativity as a spiritual practice, a way to better know ourselves, our world, and our higher purpose. We do not produce art in order to express what we know, we create art in order to discover what we don’t know. And nature, whether it be wide as the ocean, tall as the Himalaya, or small as the city park down the street, is the well spring necessary for our renewal…
“The biggest failure of capitalism, and the fact it ignores at its greatest peril, is that we are not just greedy little consumers! We were made to run all day and sleep on the open ground. We were made for epic journeys. I don’t know about you, but I’m most alive when I’m fully engaged— physically, creatively, spiritually— in what is occurring in the moment, and the moments I feel that most strongly are out in nature— climbing, hiking, taking pictures, or simply sitting watching a chickadee hop along a branch.”
The Adventure of Sustainability: We live in the Age of Unintended Consequences. Actions with the best intentions—the development of cheap energy; industrial agriculture designed to feed the most with the least; the re-engineering of the planet to meet human needs— these all began with someone’s dream of a better future, yet their single-minded pursuit has brought the earth’s living systems to the brink of collapse.
While some of today’s best minds are seeking solutions, the sheer scale of the challenges confronting us demand that everyone pitch in and lend a hand to heal the earth and aid the transition to a more mindful, collaborative, and sustainable society. Yet as individuals the enormity of the task and complexity of the problems often overwhelm us with confusion and despair.
In The Adventure of Sustainability Noble shares how lessons learned on expeditions— facing down fear, exhaustion, and negative thinking— can be applied to our normal lives to contribute to building a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world.
“Whether we find ourselves on the slopes of Everest, the jungles of Borneo, or the corridors of corporate America, the challenges which confront us always present two choices… We can choose what is small, fearful, and weak within ourselves. Or we can choose to make our finest contribution regardless of how hopeless things might seem.
We can ask ‘what’s in this for me?’
Or we can ask: ‘What’s needed here, that I alone can provide?’
What’s important is not whether I humped the biggest load to Camp I yesterday. What’s important is that today we do what needs to be done— with unstinting enthusiasm and good humor. When we concentrate on contribution rather than competition, we aren’t concerned with rewards or applause. When we contribute, we simply see a need and throw our best effort into the breach.”
The Adventure of Creativity: While most seminars on the business of outdoor photography focus on the latest technology or the challenges of a tough economy; Noble explores outdoor photography from the stand-point of someone who would rather be outdoors, than sitting at a computer or roaming the halls of corporate America. Using stories and photographs from three decades as one of the world’s leading adventure photographers, Noble joyfully reminds his audience why they dreamed of becoming a photographer in the first place.
He demonstrates how success in the creative arts is based on discovering one’s passion, then pursuing it with tremendous heart and soul. He encourages audiences to find the courage to discover their unique individual vision and purpose, rather than wasting time and energy chasing the latest trends, and how to stand firm in the disorienting flood of new information and new technology.
And he offers practical down-to-earth methods and advice anyone can try: how to get started; how to get connected; getting organized, and building creative networks in which all members collaborate in order to produce the finest work possible…
“As anyone knows who has ever climbed a mountain, success does not come from throwing oneself at the challenge, or from trying to do a hundred things at once. It doesn’t come from spraying hot air about what you’re going to do. It does come from focused, patient dedication over time to a single goal, taking one small step at a time… then another and another…”
“One thing I can promise, when you give your heart fully to whatever you love, things begin to move. Doors and opportunities open and energy begins to flow. Will it take you where you want to go? No one knows. But it’s certain you will travel much farther than if you never left the shore.”
Chris is available for talks, workshops, seminars, and private coaching on these and related topics. Please contact our office today to discuss your project, event, or institution and how we can work together.
+1-801-935-1379
One of the world's leading adventure photographers, Chris Noble is also a writer and multi-media producer whose work celebrates the beauty of nature and inspires people to live healthier, more mindful, and sustainable lives. He's a veteran of over thirty expeditions ranging from Denali to Everest; the peaks of the Alps to the jungles of Borneo; from the Arctic to remote regions of Burma and Bhutan. His work has appeared in hundreds of publications, including Life, National Geographic, Newsweek, Orion, Outside, and Rolling Stone. Noble collaborates with environmental, conservation and aid organizations such as Round River Conservation Studies and Lily Yeh's Barefoot Artists, and he speaks on the topics of adventure, creativity, photography, and sustainability to audiences worldwide.