Noggle, Anne

American, b. 1922 Evanston, IL, d. 2005

BiographyAnne Noggle’s work consistently challenges the stereotypes and standard mythologies of women. She herself began her artistic career at age forty-three to complement her already-established profession as a pilot. Frequently using the format of self-portraiture, Noggle speaks directly to issues of self, identity, and the female body. Noggle refers to her self-portraits as her “saga of fallen flesh,” and through them offers witty and engaging versions of herself: wearing pearls under water, wearing denim in the desert, flying, in a darkroom, recuperating after a face-lift, or– as in Self Image –simply looking grim behind the imprisoning lines of a shadow. This saga uses images of the self to look unabashedly at aging, a process all of Noggle’s photographs handle with humor, honesty, and respect. Face Life No. 3 appears in Noggle’s book Silver Lining (1983).

Born in Evanston, Illinois in 1922, Anne Noggle served as a Woman Airforce Service Pilot (1943-44) and as a captain in the US Air Force (1953-59) before studying art and art history at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Noggle was an adjunct professor of art at the University of New Mexico for decades, beginning her career there in 1970. In addition to teaching, she also curated photography. Noggle received numerous awards for her photographic work, including several National Endowment for the Arts grants in photography, and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. Anne Noggle died on August 16, 2005 in Albuquerque.