Anne Geddes: Portraiture Photographer Extroardinaire
World renown baby photographer, Anne Geddes, first picked up
a camera at the age of twenty five. At the time, Geddes was living in Hong Kong
with her husband, Kel, whose work had relocated them there. Anne started a
small portraiture business, photographing the children of her friends and
neighbors. Geddes is self-taught, and it was during the two years spent in Hong
Kong that she developed her inimitable style of using simple structure, and
powerful visual impressions.
After Anne and Kel returned to their homeland of Australia,
Anne became pregnant with her first daughter.
Working from home, she created greeting cards for friends and family
which eventually led to the launch of her personalized greeting card business.
In 1988, Geddes’ rendering of Gemma, a little girl wearing a
tutu, was published in a local magazine.
Her work garnered a tremendous amount
of attention, and two years later business was booming. When asked about tricks and tips that help make great,
unforgettable pictures, Anne advocates several concepts that AU’s Visual Arts
Professor Kyle Brannon repeats over and over again: “Keep your camera on hand at all
times; change your perspective; and you don’t need an expensive camera to take
great photos.”
According to Geddes, “…the best images are the ones that
retain their strength and impact over the years, regardless of the number of
times they are viewed.” She also maintains that the emotional content of an
image is more important that the technique used to acquire it. Anne finds that
much of the photography she sees nowadays “lacks the emotional impact to draw a
reaction from viewers, or remain in their hearts.”
Anne states, “My idea of a perfect image is where I have created a beautiful environment, and the baby has given something of its personality. That extra spark in the image is always supplied by the baby. When you look at one of my images, your eye is always drawn to the baby’s face, regardless of how complicated the setting is. The babies are always the most important aspect of the image, and so they should be."
References:
http://pinterest.com/bayoucajungirl/anne-geddes-photography/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Geddes
Week 2
Visual Literacy class challenges me to see the world in a different way. First, I'm put to the task of taking the time to really look and consider everything or person I encounter...quite a novel concept in this day and age when most folks are staring at an iphone or ipad or some other similar icontraption.
Secondly, I've returned to the practice of living in my imagination...something I thought I'd outgrown. Well, to my utter delight, I'm becoming reacquainted with my creative self, an old friend who never hesitates to ask "what if?"
This week's photo essay assignment is a first for me. The inspiration comes from a crabapple tree that lives in my backyard. As I began to shoot the crabapples from that tree, the story for this assignment revealed itself to me.
A Love Story
Randy Red was hanging out in the orchard, pondering the meaning of life (he was the philosophical type), when he saw a vision that stopped him in his tracks.
There basking in the sun before him was Ms. Ginger Gold of Virginia.
Randy Red was at once smitten with the beautiful golden apple. He couldn’t get Ginger Gold out of his thoughts.
One day Randy Red screwed up enough courage to ask Ginger Gold out.
Ginger Gold graciously accepted, and the two soon became a couple.
Before long, they became fruitful and multiplied…
...and multiplied.
Soon their children grew big and strong…
...and had children of their own.
Red and Ginger were the proud parents and grandparents of a bountiful family. Randy Red began to think that he had found his life's purpose.
Then the strangest thing happened. Randy Red, Ginger Gold, and the entire family were caught in a blizzard of sugar.
Before they knew it, they'd been peeled, sliced and baked into a scrumptious pie. A pie that was so delicious, folks traveled from miles around to get a slice.
Randy Red and Ginger Gold were as proud as proud can be to be so famous, and they (and their kids and grandkids) lived happily ever after...on the menu!
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