Anne Geddes By Daniella and Sarah

Childhood

Anne was born on September 13th, 1956 in Queensland Australia. She had five siblings and grew up on a cattle ranch in Queensland.

As a young child, Geddes became fascinated by the stories of May Gibbs, who was a popular children's author.



She had a hard teen life which lead her to dropout of high school at the age of 17. During her teen years, she became fascinated with photography

Education

Anne dropped out of high school at the age of 17 as she had a really hard teen life
She is a self-taught photographer, meaning she did not attend post secondary
She began creating her unique style at a young age and continued to expand her profession on her own

Why is she famous

Anne Geddes is famous for her beautiful photography
She has also raised a lot of awareness about diseases like meningococcal.

Examples and bibliography

“Why Is Anne Geddes' Work So Popular?” The Spruce Crafts, TheSpruceCrafts, www.thesprucecrafts.com/profile-of-geddes-2688394.
Taylor, Stacy. “Anne Geddes Photography.” LoveToKnow, LoveToKnow Corp, photography.lovetoknow.com/anne-geddes-photography
“Anne Geddes Biography - Life of Australian Photographer.” Totally History, 31 Dec. 2013, totallyhistory.com/anne-geddes/
“About Anne.” Anne Geddes, www.annegeddes.com/aboutanne/.

Family backround

In 1983 she met and married her husband Kel at age 25.

They moved to Auckland, New Zealand where she taught herself photography with Kel's 35mm Pentax K1000

Anne and Kel had two daughters together: Kelly, born in 1986 and Stephanie, born in 1984

Career

In 1988, after moving to Auckland, New Zealand with her husband Kel, Anne established her first professional studio, specializing in classic portraiture of children and families. She continued her portraiture for the first 10 years of her now 30-year career. In 1992 her first greeting card collection and calendar was introduced in New Zealand. Both became an instant success.

The Geddes Philanthropic Trust was created to raise money for the prevention of child abuse and neglect. Since its inception, the Trust has designated funds from a range of Anne Geddes products totaling more than US$5.7 million, which has aided programs around the world. The upcoming 2018 calendar marks the 27th continuous edition.

In 1993, inspired by reading bedtime stories to their young daughters, Anne began to envision a fairy tale told through photography, leading to the creation of her first coffee table book “Down in the Garden”.

Published in 1996, “Down in the Garden” changed the face of children’s photography globally and launched Anne’s international career as a bestselling author. It was a New York Times Best Seller, rising to #3 and remaining on the list for three months; returning again to the list the following year.

In 1997, Anne was awarded Lifetime Membership of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and presented the keynote address at the PPA convention in Las Vegas that year.

Also in 1997, Anne received an Honorary Fellowship with the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photographers (NZIPP) in recognition of her unique style of photography and her global success. At the time accumulating the most merits ever granted to an individual photographer within the NZIPP, Anne was the first woman to earn a Fellowship from the Institute through its awards system. Today she is Patron of that same Institute.

With the release of many books, greeting cards and calendars, Anne felt that it was time she shared her personal story. Her autobiography “A Labor of Love” was released in 2007. Published in 8 countries, “A Labor of Love” also included family snapshots, behind the scenes anecdotes and a select portfolio of never-before-published images.

Why did we choose her

We found it fascinating that she photographs babies

She raises awareness on survivors of meningococcal disease

we liked the unique style of photos she takes

She works to improve the health of mothers and babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality through a campaign