A Labor of Love: Anne Geddes, an autobiography

In my heart, there was never any other option than to photograph babies...

I was so naturally drawn to them and fell in love with them, even before being fortunate enough to have two beautiful babies of my own. Certainly, I had no notion of the path my photographic life would take, and once it started there was no turning back. Had anyone suggested that I write a book such as this twenty-five years later, I would have thought they were talking about somebody else.

The process of working on this book has allowed me much pleasurable time to reflect on what has been an extraordinary and magical journey through a quarter of a century of not only my photography, but also my life. And what a journey it's been! A journey I am very proud and honored to have taken and shared with many talented and dedicated people. I have been so lucky to have had the opportunity to follow my dreams and passions, and my true hope is that through this process I have created a body of images that will have a profoundly positive effect — forever.

Revisiting over 2000 of my images was nostalgic and emotional. Some of the very early babies are now in their twenties and parents themselves. I have lingered far too long over some of the images as vivid memories flooded back, memories I thought had drifted into the back of my mind forever. Through my early portraiture years and on to the creation of my very first calendar images in the early 1990s, I discovered that I remembered with surprising clarity names, faces, and lovely little stories about each shoot, as if it had all happened yesterday. Some days I was in fits of laughter as I recalled some gorgeous little moments with babies — and at times in tears over many emotional events. All-in-all, it has been a very rich and rewarding twenty-five years, and I have loved creating every single image.

Naturally, I would have loved to include each and every one of my images in this book because of their special meaning to me, but that would be impossible. The selection process was definitely no easy task. After careful consideration, I have included a broad range of images to illustrate my story.

Some images will be instantly recognizable; others have never been published before. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I have enjoyed selecting the. My hope is that A Labor of Love will give you an understanding of the motivation 'behind the scenes'; and give you a sense of what is involved right from the planning stage and beyond.

It is often difficult during media interviews to adequately describe why I do what I do with such passion and commitment, or to answer in detail many of the questions I am often asked. Where do I find the babies? Do I hold auditions? How do I get them to sleep so well? Who is the youngest baby I've ever photographed? Finally, I have the perfect opportunity to do so.

Many people who have come to my studio during a photo shoot have told me that it was a totally different experience than expected. Parents have often written to me afterwards to say how much they enjoyed not just having their baby photographed, but that they themselves were made to feel valued and special.

I hope this book will give you a little taste of what it is really like in my studio environment, and illustrate how deeply I feel about babies and new life. Included are many photographs of myself and my team at work in the studio and some personal photographs of family, friends and colleagues — people who have helped me on my way and supported me through my photographic life; people who care about babies as much as I do.

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Contact: Kathy Hilliard, Publicity Director, (800) 851-8923, ext. 6741, khilliard@amuniversal.com

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