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.