Original baby influencer Anne Geddes urges parents to ‘embrace the chaos’ of toddlers

Any parent will tell you that getting a toddler to pose for a photo is near-impossible.

And yet, we still feel pressure to post picture-perfect images of our children to social media.

Well, the so-called “original baby influencer” Anne Geddes is urging parents to ditch this notion and embrace the mess.

Famed for her iconic images of babies in pot plants during the 90s, Geddes has taken a different approach in a new collaboration with Karicare Toddler.

Rather than her usual angelic posed tots, this photo series showcases little ones as they truly are — being silly, having tantrums and refusing to conform to their parents’ wishes.

Geddes says the Feed the Real campaign will hopefully make families feel better about the chaos that comes with having young children.

“My journey as a baby photographer began before the rapid growth of social media and the ubiquitous sharing of our lives online,” she says.

“Nowadays, I see new parents comparing themselves to the overly perfect and Insta-friendly images and videos that appear in social media.”

The campaign is supported by research that found 96 per cent of Aussie parents felt there was pressure on them to be perfect, and believed social media contributed to this.

Three in five parents also said seeing seemingly-perfect photos of other families on platforms like Instagram made them feel bad.

Geddes’ project with Karicare Toddler is encouraging parents to get on board this new movement by sharing real depictions of their family life online with the hashtag #FeedTheReal.

“There is no such thing as a perfect parent,” Geddes says.

“We are all imperfect and we should embrace that ... parenting is messy, joyful and everything in between.”