George Nobechi's work is often described as evoking solitude, duality and longing. As a bicultural Japanese/Canadian he is simultaneously an insider and outsider in both Eastern and Western cultures and this is reflected in his sensibility and vision.

Nobechi was born in Tokyo to a Canadian father and Japanese mother. His Japanese grandfather, a high school teacher on the northern island of Hokkaido, was his role model and nurtured a thirst for knowledge across the arts, science and history. Those influences remained with Nobechi as his family moved to Canada when he was eleven. During his studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, his father suddenly died, and upon graduation with an Honors Degree in History and International Relations in 2002, Nobechi entered the world of Finance, first in Tokyo and later in New York.

Along the way, Nobechi began to feel disconnected from life and embarked on solo round-the-world journeys in 2008 and 2010 in order to try to cross that void. In 2014 while living in New York, he was inspired by the Photoville photo festival and decided to walk away from his career. He placed his belongings in storage, gave up the lease on his apartment, and traveled to the Southwestern US to study photography, first under Brett L. Erickson, and continuing as an intern at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops in 2015, where he met the National Geographic photographer Sam Abell. Abell identified the potential in Nobechi and suggested he pursue a career in photography. What followed was a three-year journey with no fixed home. As the months and years passed, Nobechi felt a beckoning from his homeland and he returned to rediscover Japan from his newfound perspective as a photographer.

Since 2020 he has been involved in community and philanthropic work, creating the series Evenings with the Masters©, which showcases international master photographers and raises funds for charity; to date, he has interviewed 36 photographers such as Pete Souza, Michael Kenna, Jane Evelyn Atwood, Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Mona Kuhn, Awosika van der Molen, Greg Gorman, Kate Breakey, raising over $70,000 for charity.

In 2022, Nobechi was chosen to represent Japan in the Fujifilm documentary series “Reflections.” In 2023, he co-founded Karuizawa Foto Fest, a new developmental ground for photographers from around the world. He remains Creative Director of KFF.

Awards, Galleries, Exhibitions, Publications, Collections Highlights
Gallery representation: Nobechi is currently represented by Patricia Conde Galeria (Mexico) and the Webster Collection (Santa Fe, NM) and was formerly represented by A Gallery for Fine Photography (New Orleans)

Solo exhibitions: Recent solo shows include “Roads to Denali” FUJIFILM Square Tokyo 2023, “The Japan I Hadn't Seen” FotoNostrum, Barcelona 2023, “Phoenix Rises” Hiroshi Senju Museum Karuizawa 2023, “Eastern Light, Western Wind” Frederick Harris Gallery Tokyo 2023 and Photoville New York 2020.

Collections: Nobechi's work is included in the collections of the Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography and the Australian Museum of Contemporary Photography.

Publications: Nobechi's photographs and words have been published in Huffington Post, Newsweek Japan, Fuji Koron, Tokyo Shimbun, PDN, Lenscratch, Dodho, Fraction, Asahi Camera & Vostok

Awards: Highlights include: Critical Mass Top 50 (2017, 2021), Critical Mass Finalist (2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2023) Rfotofolio winner 2018, Review Santa Fe selection 2018, PX3 Paris Photo Prize Silver for monograph and fine art categories 2017, International Photo Awards Bronze winner series 2018, PDN's The Curator Award best landscape series 2017, Phoenix Art Museum's Sidney Zuber Award Honorable Mention 2017, SilverEye Center for Photography's Commendation Award 2017, PRC Boston's Exposure Award 2017. PX3 State of the World Curator Selection Winner 2020, Rfotofolio Merit Award winner 2020, Kolga-Tbilisi Photo Festival Best Single Shot 2020 Finalist. Also a World Press Photo 6x6 Asia Shortlist nominee in 2020 and PDN 30 Nominee in 2018.

野辺地ジョージ （ノベチ・ジョージ）

1980年東京都生まれ。長野県軽井沢町在住。
カナダ、ブリティッシュ・コロンビア大学歴史部卒業
米国の A Gallery for Fine Photography、Webster Collection、メキシコのPatricia Conde Galeria 画廊所属

北海道の母、カナダの父 （故）を持つ野辺地は、幼少期に東京のインターナショナルスクールに通い、家族と共に11才の時にカナダへ移住した。小樽市で高校の教師であった祖父から日本の文化や歴史のことを学び、深い影響を受けた。大学一年の時に父が亡くなり、卒業後は家族をサポートするため東京の外資系証券会社にトレーダーとして入社した。

その後ニューヨークへ移住。滞在中の2014年にPhotoville写真祭に感銘を受け、翌年に金融のキャリアを辞め、写真家への道を歩むことを決断し、Santa Fe Photographic Workshopsにインターンとして入学する。３年間に渡り家無き一人旅をしながら写真を独学。その時に作成した窓越しの風景シリーズ 「Here. Still.」は2017年に米写真コンクールCritical Mass Top 50、ボストンPhotographic Resource Center のExposure Award、Paris Photo Prizeで銀賞二つ等を受賞、後Detroit Center for Contemporary PhotographyやアリゾナのCenter for Creative Photographyのコレクションに作品が収められ、キャリアの突破口となる。

数多くの受賞歴の中、Critical Massは計５回のファイナリストとして入選（2016、2017、2020、2021、2023）Top 50は2017年と2021年（「The Japan I Had Not Seen」）に受賞。その他にもInternational Photo Award やPX3、PRC ボストン Exposure賞なども受賞。また2020年にはWorld Press Photo 6x6のアジア地区ショートリストにもノミネートされる。

写真や文章はPDN、Huffington Post、Newsweek Japan、東京新聞、婦人公論、アサヒカメラ、Fraction、Vostok、Dodho等と国内外の媒体に掲載されている。現在は東京新聞と婦人公論で全国の水族館をテーマにしたシリーズが連載されている。

12回の個展の中でも近年では、FUJIFILM SQUARE Tokyo 「デナリへの道」(2023)、FotoNostrum Barcelona「The Japan I Had Not Seen」(2023)、軽井沢千住博美術館ギャラリー「Phoenix Rises: 蘇る命」(2023)、Frederick Harris Gallery Tokyo「東の光、西の風」(2022) など国内外の画廊や美術館で開催されている。2020年ニューヨークのPhotoville写真祭でもソロショーとして展示されている。

過去にはAdobe Lightroom とDxOの公式講師も務め、Nobechi Creativeを通して世界各国の著名な写真家と共催してウェビナーやワークショップを開催している。「Evenings with the Masters」 というインタビューシリーズは、コロナ禍で35回に渡るエピソードでチャリティ用に総額750万円を集め、その全額を寄付した。

2022年には富士フィルムXシリーズカメラの10周年を記念するドキュメンタリーシリーズ「Reflections」で日本代表・司会役として出演した。

2023年より新たな登竜門的写真祭、軽井沢フォトフェスとのクリエイティブ・ディレクターも努める。

今も日本を拠点とし、文化や日常生活をテーマに活動している。