Today we’d like to introduce you to Gail K. Nogle.
At 8 years old a prodigy was ignited at Sky Farm Camp in upstate New York when a Kodak Brownie was put in her hands. Gail immediately ran out of film photographing everyone there and their dog. By age 13 she had her own dark room in the family upstairs bathroom developing all her own film. She started printing her photos while babysitting for the family of a local photographer. Babysitting bought Gail her first 35mm Nikon Photomic TN camera for the small fortune of $360 in 1967. This is also where Gail learned how to read children so well and capture a baby in a way that a mother sees her own child. Now with her own professional camera Gail became the High School newspaper photographer documenting football games in stop-action, school club activities, plays, musicals, teachers in their classrooms, PTA meetings, janitors cleaning the rooms at night, and her homeroom teacher’s wedding, which became her first paid event. Leaving high school in 1969 Gail won a scholarship to Rochester Institute of Technology to study Professional Photography.
There were only 3 women in her class with 300 men. She never had a problem getting a darkroom partner. Upon graduation she applied only to the best portrait studio in the nation, Gittings/Neiman Marcus in Houston, Texas. Upon seeing her portfolio Gittings hired her immediately. A year later Gittings in Dallas bought her away from the Houston studio. Gail worked with the best portrait photographers in the business for the next 14 years winning countless accolades and awards, which included a Master of Photography degree in 1981. Gail opened her own Dallas studio in 1990. She earned a Photographic Craftsmen degree in 1996. In 1998, she became one of very few women in the world awarded a Fellowship from the American Society of Photographers. While children’s photography and portraiture have been her first photographic love and forté, the whole world is her current studio now. Gail has expanded her art to painting with a camera and conducting symphonic photographs around the world. Gail’s passion has taken her around the world photographing amazing events and places such as Princess Diana’s funeral procession in London, a Sahara Desert caravan, the plains of Serengeti, Havana’s exotic street scenes with vintage 1950’s cars, Mexico’s Day of the Dead, the floating markets of Kashmir, bathers in the River Ganges, and the Dalai Lama’s 77th birthday in Dharamsala, India
Please tell us about your art.
: I am a portrait photographer and am intrinsically motivated to communicate visually. I am able to make people comfortable in front of the camera in a very short time. I connect with them on a deep level and bring out the best of who they are. I want them to see what I see. Traveling the world and photographing people and their cultures is my passion. Photographing others in their own environment is one of my ways of exposing and presenting my vision to others. My photographic images are my gift and contribution to those who view my work. I hope people will take away seeing what is hidden in plain sight. Inspiration, for me, is being in the moment. As one of the few woman photographers of my era, I have worked professionally for 45 years, (24/7), and have learned that experience is the best teacher, and attention to detail sets me apart. I have been told my work looks effortless, and Michelangelo said it best, “If people knew how hard I have had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem wonderful at all.”
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
(Financial Challenges as an Artist
Choosing a creative or artistic path comes with many financial challenges. Any advice for those struggling to focus on their artwork due to financial concerns?)
The best way to view my work is on Instagram at gailnogle. There are several videos on my Gail Nogle Photography YouTube Channel. The three bests are: “Portraits”, “Painting with a Camera”, and “Exotica”, which will show my range of work. I, also, have a website, Gailnoglephoto.com.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
The best way to view my work is on Instagram at gailnogle. There are several videos on my Gail Nogle Photography YouTube Channel. The three bests are: “Portraits”, “Painting with a Camera”, and “Exotica”, which will show my range of work. I, also, have a website, Gailnoglephoto.com.
Contact Info:
- Address: 13619 Inwood Road Suite 330 Dallas, Tx 75244
- Website: gailnoglephoto.com
- Phone: 972-571-4417
- Email: gnogle@sbcglobal.net
- Instagram: @gailnogle
- Facebook: Gail Nogle
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
