“Focus on the Essence” features 16 photographs drawn from the Appleton’s permanent collection of photography, exploring themes that Anne Noggle returned to again and again: self-portraiture, both formal and casual, the aging process and femininity. This selection of photographs was made from more than 100 photographs generously donated to the museum by the Anne Noggle Foundation.
A native of Evanston, Illinois, Anne Noggle (1922-2005) learned to pilot planes in her teens, and later to photograph in her forties. With degrees from the University of New Mexico, she stayed on board and became a professor on the Albuquerque campus. Well before she curated the groundbreaking blockbuster “Women of Photography: An Historical Survey” exhibition and catalogue in 1975 at the San Francisco Museum of Art, Noggle earned her career stripes as a captain in the U.S. Air Force (Women’s Air Force Service pilot (WASP), Korean War pilot, private pilot instructor, agricultural crop duster and air show stunt pilot.
