Mignon Naegeli is a naturalized U.S. citizen of Swiss descent. She studied at the Lucerne Academy of Fine Arts and with master photographer James Gabriel Perret, the renowned expert and widely-read writer on photographic techniques. After earning her state degree in proffessional photography, she worked as a photographer, darkroom special-effects artist, and stylist at photo studios in Zurich, Lucerne, and Berne. She also worked as a freelance photo journalist for the Luzerner Neueste Nachrichten and as a researcher for World Wildlife Fund Switzerland and World Wildlife Fund International.

Since moving to the United States in 1978, Naegeli has worked in two and three dimensional art. She has exhibited as a solo artist and in group shows in the United States and Switzerland. She also has been producing experimental short films in cooperation with Wolf Naegeli, her husband. She is a member of Professional Photographers of America and Schweizer Berufsfotografen (Professional Photographers of Switzerland).