Were you an Anne Geddes baby in the ‘90s? The photographer wants to hear from you

Anne Geddes has a firmly clip wrap her bear in mind around the fact that the itty bittie stars of her debut infant photography book are all grown up, some with babies of their own.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Down in the Garden, the bestselling book that introduced the world to Geddes' bubbly and iconic style of baby portraiture.

To celebrate, the Australian photographer is asking her former models to reach out to her through her Instagram account, where she plans to share their photos and stories throughout the year.

“It's amazing that, you know, what some of these little babies who are now in their early 30s have been doing,” Geddes told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. €œIn my mind, I still think of them as those little babies in the book.”

Anyone who was around in the ‘90s and early aughts will likely be familiar with Geddes’ work in some way, shape or form.

Down in the Garden, which showcased newborn babies in elaborate and colourful garden-themed costumes and settings, was published in September 1996, and became an international sensation after it was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show that year.

Soon after, Geddes’ baby portraits were everywhere — on posters, postcards, greeting cards, calendars and journals. One photo, Tayla as a Waterlily, appeared in an episode of the TV show Friends. She even did a collaboration with Canadian pop icon Céline Dion.

Over the last three decades, Geddes’ work has been published in over 84 countries and translated into 24 languages.

“What I think is lovely about what I do — and what I continue to do today — is highlight the absolute joy that little babies bring to families,” Geddes said.  “I think that babies are a universal language.”

Geddes balks at the photographers she’s known who’ve told her they dabbled in infant photography in their early career to make some money before moving on to “something more important.”

“I was always puzzled by that because, to me, that's my whole creative world,” she said. "Reminding people every day of the importance of children and bringing up children.”

Geddes, meanwhile, continues to take baby and family portraits today, including private portraits.

“It’s lovely moments all the time,” she said. €œI think I'm getting better and better every day.”

So what’s the key to taking a perfect baby photo, according to the woman the New York Times once dubbed “the original baby photo influencer”? 

“Everything needs to revolve around that baby, because they're the ultimate egos in the room,” Geddes said. 

And that holds true, she says, even when she's catering to busy, high-end clientele.

“It doesn’t matter if you're the king or the queen or whatever. If you have a baby and he was like 15 months old at the time, everything needs to revolve around his best time of day because, otherwise, you're not going to get anything," she said.

That’s why the babies in her photo tend look so peaceful, she says. 

“If you see a baby who's sleeping in one of my images, you know that they're warm and they've got a full tummy and everything is just going their way.”

Down in the Garden showcases everyday people’s babies in New Zealand, where she was living and working in the ‘90s. 

Some of those clients and their families have stayed in touch with her over the years, she said. Others, she’s hoping to track down.

All these years later, she says, she remembers every single one. 

She took the photos between 1993 and 1995, at a time when photo manipulation software was still in its infancy. So while there is some photo editing at play, most of what you see in those images, she says, is the product of hard work, timing, costumes, practical effects and beautifully designed props.

In Cherished, for example, baby Erin dozes blissfully atop a beautifully crafted prop mushroom. In Cabbage Kids, twins Rhys and Grant stare at each other from beds of actual cabbage leaves.

“That’s like 20 cabbages, pulled apart,” Geddes said with a chuckle. 

That’s why she believes those ‘90s photographs continue to resonate with people today, and find new audiences on social media. 

“These days, we look at images online and everything and you think, is that real or is it now AI?” she said. 

“I think nothing is more important these days than authenticity and getting back to what's really important. I'm sure everyone agrees.”

Interview produced by Cassie Argao

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