View source for Anne Geddes

{{Short description|Australian photographer (born 1956)}}
{{Distinguish|text=the English social activist [[Anna Geddes]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Use Australian English|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name             = Anne Geddes
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM|size=100%}}
| image            =
| image_size       =
| alt              =
| caption          =
| birth_name       =
| birth_date       = {{Birth year and age|1956}}
| birth_place      = [[Home Hill, Queensland|Home Hill]], [[Queensland]], Australia
| nationality      =
| other_names      =
| citizenship      =
| education        =
| alma_mater       =
| occupation       = Photographer, author, artist, businesswoman
| years_active     = 1981–present
| employer         =
| known_for        = Infant photography
| notable_works    =
| style            =
| signature        =
| signature_alt    =
| signature_size   =
| website          = {{URL|annegeddes.com}}
}}
'''Anne Elizabeth Geddes''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM|size=85%}} (born 1956) is an Australian-born, New York City-based [[portrait photographer]] known primarily for her elaborately staged photographs of infants.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lyall |first=Sarah |date=22 March 2021 |title=Anne Geddes Was the Original Baby-Picture Influencer |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/style/anne-geddes-baby-pictures.html |access-date=8 May 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=8 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220508100908/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/style/anne-geddes-baby-pictures.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gander |first=Kashmira |date=13 March 2017 |title=The world's most famous baby photographer on how to take the perfect photo of your child |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/anne-geddes-baby-photographer-worlds-most-famous-perfect-picture-child-flowers-cabbages-a7623156.html |access-date=8 May 2022 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

Geddes's books have been published in 83 countries.<ref name=bio/> According to Amazon.com, she has sold more than 18&nbsp;million books and 13&nbsp;million calendars.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/Anne-Geddes/e/B000APZ9BU/ |title=Anne Geddes Bibliography |work=Amazon.com |access-date=29 August 2017 |archive-date=7 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307114659/http://www.amazon.com/Anne-Geddes/e/B000APZ9BU |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1997, Cedco Publishing sold more than 1.8&nbsp;million calendars and date books bearing Geddes' photography.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30B10F63C550C7A8EDDAB0994DF494D81 |title=Calendar Whirl: Thousands of Ways to Keep Track of 365 Days |first=Shelly |last=Freierman |date=29 December 1997 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2 March 2011}}</ref> Her 1996 debut book ''Down in the Garden'', was featured on the ''[[Oprah Winfrey Show]]''<ref name="artnet">{{cite web |last1=Brara |first1=Noor |title=Anne Geddes Was Once the Queen of Baby Photography. Now, She's Hit Hard Times—and Is Asking for Your Help |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/anne-geddes-profile-1849401 |website=News.artnet.com |date=30 April 2020 |access-date=15 April 2021 |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415034033/https://news.artnet.com/art-world/anne-geddes-profile-1849401 |url-status=live }}</ref> and made it to the [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''New York Times'' bestseller list]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/01/books/best-sellers-december-1-1996.html |title=Best Sellers: December&nbsp;1, 1996 |date=1 December 1996 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2 March 2011 |archive-date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621022946/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/01/books/best-sellers-december-1-1996.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Her books have been translated into 23 languages.

==Early life==
In her 2007 autobiography ''Labor of Love'', Geddes talked about her difficult early years at their family cattle farm in [[Queensland, Australia]]. She dropped out of school at 17 and left home. Later, she met and married Kel Geddes,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.annegeddes.com/aboutanne|title=About Anne|website=Anne Geddes|language=en-US|access-date=6 March 2020|archive-date=6 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906075124/http://www.annegeddes.com/aboutanne|url-status=dead}}</ref> and moved to [[Hong Kong]] in 1983 for his work in television. There, at age 25, she taught herself photography using her husband's 35mm [[Pentax K1000]] camera. By the time the couple returned to Sydney two years later, she had built a small portfolio. She started specializing in baby photography after using photographs of her two daughters for a family Christmas card which proved popular.<ref name=bio/>

==Career==
Geddes became a professional photographer at age 30 after she moved to Melbourne due to her husband's work. She assisted a local photographer before starting her own studio from her garage.<ref name=bio/><ref name=women>{{cite web|title=Artistic confidence: Anne Geddes on believing in herself despite her childhood|publisher=Women and Talent|url=http://womenandtalent.com/67/anne-geddes-on-believing-in-herself-and-her-passion/|date=29 December 2007|last=Eby|first=Douglas|access-date=12 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512223052/http://womenandtalent.com/67/anne-geddes-on-believing-in-herself-and-her-passion/|archive-date=12 May 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Geddes also shoots for philanthropic causes. Geddes created her own philanthropic program, the Geddes Philanthropic Trust, whose primary focus was to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect. In 2013, she created a series for the survivors of [[meningococcal disease]]. The photographs depict families and children that have been affected by the disease and honours those who have survived. She shot photographs of 15 child survivors of meningitis for the ''Protecting Our Tomorrows: Portraits of Meningococcal Disease'' campaign.<ref name=bio>{{cite web|title=Bio |url=http://www.annegeddes.com/bio/ |publisher=Anne Geddes |access-date=13 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140216134555/http://www.annegeddes.com/bio/ |archive-date=16 February 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Anne Geddes turns her lens to a new subject: survivors of meningitis|last=Barton|first=Adriana|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/anne-geddes-turns-her-lens-to-a-new-subject/article18123097/?page=all|date=24 April 2014|access-date=12 May 2014|newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]]|archive-date=1 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140501140348/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/anne-geddes-turns-her-lens-to-a-new-subject/article18123097/?page=all|url-status=live}}</ref> She has also worked with [[March of Dimes]].<ref name= "artnet" />

Geddes first retrospective exhibition will open at the New Art Museum Tübingen (NKT), Germany on {{date|16 August 2025}}.<ref name="ferrier-2025">
{{cite news
 | last1 = Ferrier | first1 = Morwenna
 | title = 'We popped the baby in a flowerpot!' Anne Geddes on the beloved photos that made her famous
 | date = 14 August 2025
 | work = The Guardian
 | location = London, United Kingdom
 | issn = 0261-3077
 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/aug/14/we-popped-the-baby-in-a-flowerpot-anne-geddes-on-the-beloved-photos-that-made-her-famous
 | access-date = 2025-08-14
}}
</ref>

==Process==
Geddes does not audition babies for use as models because she believes all babies are beautiful. Instead, she keeps in touch with multiple birth and twin clubs and has thousands of photographs on file that parents have sent her. Geddes currently resides in New York with her husband Kel.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anne-geddes-in-a-very-lucky-situation-with-baby-photography-fame/ | title=Inside Anne Geddes' world of baby photography | publisher=CBS News | date=8 May 2014 | accessdate=21 March 2021 | archive-date=19 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119221308/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anne-geddes-in-a-very-lucky-situation-with-baby-photography-fame/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

A typical sitting takes place in the morning when the babies are well-rested, and lasts about half an hour; otherwise, the babies could get too bored or fussy.<ref name="reborn">{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jIlJAAAAIBAJ&pg=1232,742359&dq=anne-geddes&hl=en |title=Babies reborn in unlikely photos |first=Lynn |last=Steinberg |date=17 November 1996 |work=The Post and Courier |access-date=2 March 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="world">{{cite web |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/lifestyle/1999/10/14/1999-10-14_baby-sitter___anne_geddes__p.html |title=Baby-Sitter Anne Geddes' Photos of Infants Are The Shots Seen 'Round The World|first=Ruth |last=Bashinsky |date=14 October 1999 |work=New York Daily News |access-date=2 March 2011}}</ref> "You have to be really fast", Geddes says about getting good shots. She sets up her studio in advance{{nbsp}}{{emdash}} props, lighting, cameras, and equipment<ref name="interview">{{cite web |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/lifestyle/1998/11/05/1998-11-05_sleeping_beauties_a_closeup_.html |title=Sleeping Beauties A Closeup With New Zealand Photographer Anne Geddes, Who Talks About Her Wildly Popular Cherubic Images |date=5 November 1998 |work=New York Daily News |access-date=2 March 2011}}</ref>{{nbsp}}{{emdash}} so that all the baby or babies have to do is sit. Many of her props are custom made, such as oversized shoes and flowerpots.<ref name="reborn" /> She keeps the babies' parents nearby for extra assistance with expressions.<ref name="world" />

==Publications==
* ''Down in the Garden'' (1996), {{ISBN|0-7407-3540-3}}
* ''Children's collection'', Anne Geddes(1996), Cedeo, USA
** ''Garden Friends'', {{ISBN|1-55912-342-7}},1996
** ''Garden Families''
** ''Garden Colors''
** ''Color''
** ''Faces''
** ''Dress ups''
* {{cite book|last=Geddes|first=Anne|title=Anne Geddes Birthdays and Anniversaries: Orchid Babies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gdREgMjNoBUC|year=1997|publisher=Cedco|isbn=978-1-55912-347-1}}
* ''The Twelve Days of Christmas'' (1997)
* ''Until Now'' (1998), {{ISBN|0-7407-3541-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Geddes|first=Anne|title=10 in the Bed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=14s7b_CYVOgC|year=2000|publisher=Andrews McMeel|isbn=978-0-7407-1255-5}}
* ''Pure'' (2002), {{ISBN|0-7407-2641-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Geddes|first=Anne|title=Until Now|url=https://archive.org/details/untilnow0000gedd|url-access=registration|year=2003|publisher=Andrews McMeel|isbn=978-0-7407-3541-7}}
* ''[[Miracle: A Celebration of New Life|Miracle: A Celebration of New]]'', with Celine Dion, (2004) {{ISBN|0-7407-4696-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Geddes|first=Anne|title=Shapes|url=https://archive.org/details/shapesgedd00gedd|url-access=registration|year= 2005|publisher=Andrews McMeel|isbn=978-0-7407-5585-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Geddes|first=Anne|title=Colors|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJmp28CNyb8C|year= 2005|publisher=Andrews McMeel|isbn=978-0-7407-5583-5}}
* {{cite book|last=Geddes|first=Anne|title=A Labor of Love: An Autobiography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7jDnDEpfptMC|year=2007|publisher=Andrews McMeel|isbn=978-0-7407-6562-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Geddes|first=Anne|title=Be Gentle with the Young|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MmVSQu3wtAUC|year=2008|publisher=Andrews McMeel|isbn=978-0-7407-7771-4}}
* ''Beginnings'' (2010)
* ''Anne Geddes Little Blessings'' (2014). {{ISBN|1402298188}}.

==Honours and awards==
In the [[2004 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|2004 Queen's Birthday Honours]], Geddes was appointed a [[Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit]], for services to photography and the community.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2004 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2004 |date=7 June 2004 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=30 May 2020 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806103138/https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2004 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2017 Geddes was inducted into the [[International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anne Geddes |url=https://iphf.org/inductees/anne-geddes/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014052305/http://iphf.org/inductees/anne-geddes/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 October 2019 |access-date=24 July 2022 |website=International Photography Hall of Fame |language=en-US }}</ref>

==Popular culture==
In a skit on ''[[The Ronnie Johns Half Hour]]'', Geddes (played by [[Felicity Ward]]) helps a Chinese family hide their additional children from [[one-child policy]] inspectors by camouflaging them in conspicuous places, which the inspectors are unable to notice.{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}}

''McSweeney's Internet Tendency'', the humour site of [[McSweeney's]], published a Short Imagined Monologue called ''"An Anne Geddes Baby Grows Up"''.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-anne-geddes-baby-grows-up |title= An Anne Geddes Baby Grows Up |last1= Labacz |first1= Liz |date=  |website= McSweeney's Internet Tendency |access-date= 6 September 2014 |archive-date= 6 September 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140906054230/http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-anne-geddes-baby-grows-up |url-status= live }}</ref>

Humor website ''[[The Onion]]'' spoofed Geddes's style with ''"Anne Geddes Starting to Lose It"''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theonion.com/articles/anne-geddes-starting-to-lose-it/ |title=Anne Geddes Starting to Lose it |author=<!-- no by-line.--> |date= 25 July 2001 |website=The Onion |access-date= 6 September 2014}}</ref>

In the eighth episode of the sixth season of ''[[Friends]]'', entitled "The One with Ross's Teeth", [[Joey Tribbiani]] complains to his roommate Janine about a Geddes photograph she hung on the living room wall. The photograph depicted a baby Joey didn't recognise dressed as a water lily. After being told that Anne Geddes is a famous artist, he assumes that the baby is Anne Geddes.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

On the comedy website called [[Funny or Die]], there was a humorous skit on the adulthood of the babies from her photos.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i19RITxB7Gc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/i19RITxB7Gc |archive-date=21 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Where Are They Now? Top Baby Models|publisher=Fancy|date=12 May 2013|via=YouTube|access-date=5 March 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

On the 26 June 2017 episode of ''[[The Late Show with Stephen Colbert]]'', [[Stephen Colbert|Colbert]] shows a drawing of [[Sean Spicer]] and jokingly showed how Spicer would look as depicted by famous artists, including Geddes.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

In the ''[[American Dad!]]'' episode "The Census of the Lambs", Klaus copies Geddes's photographs in his own photoshoot and gets attacked by an angry version of Geddes.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lewis |first1=Kayona |title=American Dad!: The 10 Worst Things Klaus Has Ever Done, Ranked |url=https://screenrant.com/american-dad-klaus-worst-things-done-ranked/ |website=ScreenRant |access-date=14 September 2025 |language=en |date=15 October 2019}}</ref>

In an episode of ''[[The Office (American TV series)|The Office]]'' Angela Martin and Andrew Bernard use Jan Levinson's baby (Astrid) in a Geddes-style photo shoot, while the two of them are visiting Dunder Mifflin for Jan's debauched baby shower. Jan finds them in the break room, and is enraged that they are photographing a baby using a flash, and that Astrid is on a table surrounded by vegetables and dressed in cabbage leaves. Geddes's name is never mentioned directly, but her style of photography was heavily implied.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

In ''[[Schitt's Creek]]'', season six episode seven mentions character [[Moira Rose]]'s collaboration with Anne Geddes on a print advertisement for heartburn.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite magazine |last=Geddes |first=Anne |date=11 May 2014 | title = World's Most Famous Baby Photographer on the Power of Motherhood |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | url = https://time.com/94281/anne-geddes-mothers-day-motherhood/ }}
* {{cite news |title=Inside Anne Geddes' world of baby photography|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/anne-geddes-in-a-very-lucky-situation-with-baby-photography-fame/ |work=CBS News|date= 8 May 2014}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geddes, Anne}}
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Conceptual photographers]]
[[Category:Australian people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Australian expatriates in New Zealand]]
[[Category:Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian photographers]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian photographers]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian women artists]]
[[Category:Artists from Queensland]]
[[Category:20th-century American women photographers]]
[[Category:20th-century American photographers]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian women photographers]]
[[Category:Australian artists]]
[[Category:Women's Art Register artists]]