Alumni Feature — David Noyes

The alumni of the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences do amazing things with their careers. David Noyes is not only an acclaimed photographer, he also devotes his time to a nonprofit charity.

David graduated in 1985 with a BS in the Professional Photography program. He did a lot of work with Howard Levant and kept in touch with him for many years. He started his career as an advertising photographer in Boston 1986, and then owned an ad agency for many years in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Following the tragic events of 9/11/2001, David shut down his studio and began a career in publishing and adventure travel. He was the founding editor of an outdoor recreation magazine in 2002 and worked as the managing editor of AAA’s Going Places magazine. While he was the managing editor he also helped AAA of Western and Central NY build an in-house custom publishing division and launch their new club publication “Member Connection.”

Since 2006, David has concentrated his work in travel journalism and has received some wonderful recognition for his work including the North American Travel Journalism Association Grand Prize Award for the past three years and a Lowell Thomas Award for an article on Varanasi, India.

David has launched a nonprofit charity called Innocent Eyes Project to give back to the people and places that have touched his heart and shaped his career by supporting child education programs in developing countries. Innocent Eyes Project is a way for David to give back a bit and to use photography to share the stories of the developing world’s children. The tag line for Innocent Eyes Project is “Let’s Start a Ripple.” It contains the hope that by educating one child in one of the world’s poorest countries they can touch the lives of many. In a very real sense, the ripple David started making many years ago at RIT where he was taught to tell his stories with a camera.

While still in the formative stages, the charity has received their first grant to build a schoolhouse for some beautiful children in Lugala, Uganda. They are also committed to help organizations in Kenya, Tanzania, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. The founding principle is simple: It is impossible to visit remote corners of the developing world and not be touched by the innocent eyes of children.