Steve Uzzell, a renowned photographer, speaker and author, will present a talk titled, “Open Roads Open Minds,” at University of the Ozarks on Tuesday, Oct. 17, as part of the 2023-24 Walton Arts & Ideas Series.
Uzzell’s presentation will begin at 7 p.m. in the Rogers Conference Center on the U of O campus. The event is free and open to the public.
A former National Geographic photographer, Uzzell is an inspirational speaker whose travels are also global. In the past 25 years, he has given the presentation that became his book, “Open Roads Open Minds: An Exploration of Creative Problem Solving,” to more 500 organizations in all 50 states, as well as three Canadian provinces and five other countries, including India and China, to a combined audience of more than 600,000 people.
In his presentations, Uzzell uses his striking photographs as illustrations of his metaphor about possibility and creativity. He inspires audiences to take advantage of his experience and vision to make any venture an adventure.
Uzzell’s introduction to the photo industry began when he was an assistant to the editor of National Geographic and a member of their photographic staff. He has published two books of his own photography, his editorials have been featured in more than 80 publications, including Newsweek, Time, Smithsonian, and U.S. News and World Report, and his cinematography has aired on ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS. Uzzell spends six months of the year traveling the world for his clients; the remainder is spent teaching and delivering his presentation, “Open Roads Open Minds: An Exploration of Creative Problem Solving.”
Uzzell believes the open road never fails to open our mind; and once our mind is opened, the boundless power of our imagination is unlocked. Uzzell’s work teaches us to put perspective to work everyday—in problem solving, in the creative process, and in enriching our lives. Using his striking photographs as metaphoric illustrations of possibility and creativity, Uzzell inspires audiences to take advantage of his experience and vision to make any venture an adventure.
Uzzell’s approach to his photographic work serves as a universal blueprint for problem solving. His audiences not only learn to be open to solutions that are unexpected, but that preparation lays the groundwork for magic to happen. “Chance favors the prepared mind,” said Louis Pasteur. After all, Uzzell says, “our eyes will only ever see what our mind is prepared to comprehend.”