When was the last time you stopped to notice the intricacy of a bird’s nest? Not just to observe, but to experience whatever emotion such wonders might evoke about nature and nurturing?
It’s not something we are prone to do in our busy lives – even if we have the proximity. The new book “Beginnings” by famed photographer Anne Geddes captures that experience for us.
She’s known for captivating images of babies that have spawned everything from books to calendars to clothing – and the eponymous flagship store in Downtown Disney that she will visit Sunday.
You can win a copy of Geddes’ new book from OC Moms.
What you learn from the book’s introduction, and from a documentary filmed in conjunction, is that the highly successful Geddes, 54, had reached an end of sorts in her artistry.
“It was just that I’d run out of things to say. I felt like I’d already done as much as I could,” she explained in an interview after arriving in Southern California to launch a promotional tour. “I just needed another door to open. That’s what happened with the birds’ nests. It just completely put me back on track when I felt lost for a little while.”
The unexpected reaction to a gallery exhibit of birds nests in her native Australia propelled Geddes to return to the studio and spend 12 months, a full cycle of seasons, creating images inspired by what she describes as “elements of nature that bring forth new life.” She pairs those elements with newborns, pregnant women, a few older children, and one distinctly charming 107-year-old woman named Violet.
The 140 photos in “Beginnings” include a 16-year-old girl named Maneesha that Geddes first photographed in 1993 as a premature baby weighing less than 2 pounds, now holding another woman’s premature child.
Geddes plans to continue exploring the cycle of life with her next project: a collection on pregnant women. Here she talks more about “Beginnings.”
Q. You say this book “speaks more for me and what I really wanted to do in the first place than anything that I’ve done before.” Can you tell us about that?
A. I started my career in the public eye and it’s been hard to develop in the public eye. Yes I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had. My first book, “Down In the Garden,” allowed me to stop doing portraiture – it’s incredibly stressful. I wanted to get out of that.
What I really cared about was photographing babies, the beginning of life. But I needed to have my photographic style become more sophisticated, which, looking back, meant becoming more simple. This (“Beginnings”) is what I really wanted to do, to come back to the core of the reason why babies are here and why we care about them so much.
Q. Given your success, it’s surprising to hear in the documentary that you had doubts about what you do, that you learned through shooting this new book that “it’s OK to be Anne Geddes” and to photograph newborns.
A. When you’re shooting, you’re in a very, very intense world in the studio. It’s a world where there’s a lot of trust and expectations. To step out of that world and say, “I really love babies,” it sounds like a cliché.
“Oh, they’re so pure.” Well, yes, they are. It gets so frustrating for the media to keep coming back and saying that. The media can slip into these clichés, and I feel like I’m fighting that in myself.
But babies are like the ultimate cliché. Babies are ubiquitous. Yes, they are, but they change people. Most people in their daily lives never have contact with naked, newborn babies. In the studio, you’re permanently in that zone. It’s hard to step out of that and talk about it.
Q. And why did you decide to do the documentary?
A. We (she and husband Kel Geddes) thought this may be the last project I do. Let’s film what it is like from the beginning. It’s so incredible what happens in the studio. So that’s what we did.
When I saw the documentary, I felt this huge sense of relief – maybe people can look into that world without me saying I really love babies.
Q. In the introduction to the book you say that “‘Beginnings’ uncovers what is concealed.” What are you uncovering with your photos in this collection?
A. We’re all so distracted these days, particularly young people. They’re texting or e-mailing, Facebook pages, and you need to be in touch all the time. Nature is just carrying on. We need to sit back and take notice.
These simple things are the most important. Children are important. Pregnant women are important.
Look at Violet – why isn’t she on the cover of Vogue? She’s so beautiful. And you’ve got these starving women (models) walking around. Why not Violet, who is there with that sparkle in her eye? I don’t think of her as the end of a cycle – she’s part of a cycle.
Visit OC Moms: The Mom Blog to win a copy of Geddes’ book.
Anne Geddes will be at her Downtown Disney store in Anaheim on Oct. 17, from 2-3:30 p.m. to talk about and sign her new book. She will return Dec. 11, also from 2-3:30 p.m. The documentary “Beginnings” is not scheduled for theatrical release but can be downloaded from iTunes. Geddes also has started a video blog on her website, annegeddes.com.
Contact the writer: twalker@ocregister.com or 714-796-7793
