ANNE GEDDES
BEGINNINGS
(October 2010)
by Anne Geddes
“I’m really proud of this work. I think it speaks more for me and what I really wanted to do in the first place than anything that I’ve done before.” – Anne Geddes
More than 140 Never-Before-Published Images
Worldwide Release in Print, Special Edition and e-Book, in conjunction with a Short Film
10.10.10
Award-winning photographer and New York Times bestselling author Anne Geddes, who founded a new tradition in visual storytelling that still captivates an international audience, was contemplating a long hiatus from her studio when an exhibit of birds’ nests unexpectedly caught her eye and her imagination. Inspired in a fresh direction, she spent 12 months photographing. Now, Anne reveals a range of images that are, in her own words, among the most personally rewarding she has ever created. A beautiful gift book of more than 140 never-before-published photographs, BEGINNINGS (Anne Geddes Publishing; $50.00) will be released around the world in multiple languages on 10.10.10. BEGINNINGS will also be published in a Special Edition print version, presented in an exquisite cloth-bound slipcase, featuring a numbered Certificate of Authenticity with Anne’s signature; this gift book will be printed in limited quantity. For the first time, an Anne Geddes book will be released simultaneously in print and as an e-book edition, in multiple languages.
“I have always been fascinated by elements of nature at the moment of transformation,” comments Anne. “Babies are the human face of beginnings, but all of nature is caught in this insistent stream of seasons, of aging and rebirth, of concealment and bursting forth. Every time I unwrap a newborn, even after all these years of photographing them, I am aware of the miracle before me. This book, BEGINNINGS, took me on a journey of discovery to reveal these everyday miracles of nature, these complementary wonders, in imagery.”
Continuing in the tradition that has made her one of the most sought-after and popular photographers in the world, in BEGINNINGS, Anne Geddes has conceived an original story about the powerful mystery of new life that will inspire nature lovers just as surely as her images of babies have engaged people around the globe. She explores the intricate beauty of birds’ nests, the delicacy of eggs, the elaborate yet often unnoticed texture of bulbs, and the glorious color hidden inside the tight, unopened petals of a blossom before it blooms. Then, Anne expands on her visual metaphor with surprising and illuminating juxtapositions of beginnings in floral forms, as well as her signature babies and pregnant women.
Released in conjunction with BEGINNINGS will be a visually rich, emotionally moving, and deeply intimate short film, Anne Geddes: New Beginnings. For the first time, a film crew and production company (Harpullia Productions) was granted unprecedented access to Anne’s private studio, and to her innermost thoughts on her creative process, as well, during the year that she was photographing the models and materials that would be gathered in BEGINNINGS . Candid and unscripted, Anne discusses her work and how BEGINNINGS marked a turning point in her life as an artist. The revealing portrait shares the lead-up to the creation of images destined to join her most popular classics, how the youngest of the babies Anne photographs are found, the serene intensity of a “baby week” in her studio, and the captivating stories of the young and older women who posed for her. And we see and hear the mother-daughter interplay as Anne’s two daughters — Stephanie and Kelly, studio manager and camera assistant, respectively, both Fine Arts graduates — work closely with her in the creative process. This highly respected, illuminating film will be available as a digital download.
While the film Anne Geddes: New Beginnings looks into the person and her process as Anne ventures into new creative territory, the book BEGINNINGS unveils those images she personally selected from her photographic sessions. Once again, Anne calls us to see the world with fresh eyes, as her other internationally bestselling books have done.