Anne and the team received an invitation to go along to the African Women’s Dinner Dance, which is being held in a large club in Sydney. The reason for the invitation is because Anne had organised for us to document the African Cultural Day held a month or so ago and the organizers wanted to thank us.

They plan to have a table displaying some of Anne’s books and some information sheets regarding Anne’s new book project. In an earlier blog, we mentioned the effort Anne is going to reach out to the international communities.

Anne has also very kindly sent along a framed print of one of the African babies who came to the studio recently, to form part of the display. We were told by the mother of this baby that her own mother, grandmother and sisters were going to the dance and that they would be very excited to see her baby’s image displayed there.

One of the organizers of the event said that the whole concept behind the women’s dinner dance is to try to educate women from African communities living in Australia to assimilate with Australian people and Australian culture so that they do not feel isolated here.

It is very kind of the organisers to set up a display, which will tell these women about Anne’s new book project so that they understand more fully what Anne is trying to achieve and how we go about it.

Topics: african women , anne geddes , babies , new book

A few weeks back we had a lovely pregnant lady from Peru in the studio who had her tummy photographed by Anne. (there certainly will be a host of countries featured in Anne’s next book). At the time she was pregnant with twins and yesterday the twins visited the studio. They are absolutely gorgeous, two little boys.

The parents arrived with the babies in the most lovely, brightly coloured, woven slings – in fact woven somewhere in the mountains of Peru. One of the mother’s cousins had sent them over to Australia before the babies were born.

Both parents looked wonderful with these slings over their shoulders and the babies nestled inside.

The babies were photographed in the same beautiful hand painted fabric that Anne had used in the mother’s image.

If anyone else has a photo of the lovely slings in use, you could post them on Anne’s Facebook page for all to see?

Topics: anne geddes , babies , facebook , peru

We have just completed a new video with Anne talking about the new "pure" clothing range. Today the final editing is taking place and very soon we will be able to share this with everyone to see!

It’s very exciting and we be making an announcement very soon as to when it will be available.

Topics: anne geddes , babies , organic baby clothing

By coincidence, two of the mothers who visited the studio this morning went to high school together, but had no idea that they were both going to be at Anne’s studio, let alone on the same day.

One mother commented that she had checked her high school friend’s Facebook page that morning, and noted that she had to be somewhere by 9.30 and didn’t know how she would do it with a new baby. The mother reading the Facebook page thought to herself, I can relate to that, I have to be somewhere at 9.30 also!

Little did they know they would end up at the same place, same time! Anne's studio! It’s a small world out there…so they had a lot of catching up to do and were almost quite oblivious to what was going on around them!

It’s a wonder how the new mothers had time to check each others Facebook pages at all with a new baby in the house…but they seem to be very good at multi tasking.... mothers need to be... as all mothers know.

If they do have extra time, they could also check Anne’s official Facebook page and read this story about themselves, then sign up as a friend and read more news with each new post.

You should too, if you have not already!

Topics: anne geddes , babies , coincidence , mothers , time

As well as having five newborns in the studio this morning, it was one of Anne’s photographic assistants birthday. Anne’s studio manager, who is also one of Anne’s daughters, is very keen on cupcakes, so she ordered a box for us all to share with the birthday girl. There were quite a few in the box, so we (very kindly!) shared them with the parents as well.

Above is a photograph of them, as they each looked like little works of art and had very exotic names…this is becoming a custom it seems, as we also celebrated with cupcakes when we had one of our pregnant mothers in for a shoot when it was her birthday. (Mentioned in an early blog)

We always serve morning tea for the parents who come to the studio, fresh fruit as well as cakes and slices – this morning the parents went home very well fed!

In case you are wondering, Anne chose the lemon meringue…bottom row, second from the left!

Topics: anne geddes , babies , baby photo , cupcakes , pregnancy

A few weeks ago Anne photographed a Cuban grandmother. (mentioned in a previous blog, titled:- A photo of the grandmother) She is going back to Cuba in ten days so Anne thought it might be nice to have her into the studio to present her with a signed print before she leaves Australia. The whole family accompanied her including her beautiful grandson, (mentioned in other blogs) her son and daughter-in-law. The team prepared a morning tea and we sat around chatting for a while. This particular family feels almost like part of our family, as they have been in a few times now.

She loved the image of herself and is very excited at the prospect of showing it to her friends and family back in Cuba.

It was sad to say goodbye, but we are sure she will visit again. She has extended an open invitation to all of us to stay with her if we ever go to Cuba…she might be sorry she said that!

It also seems to be a good idea to start numbering the blogs so that you have a reference number to look back on if necessary.

Topics: anne geddes , babies , grandmother , grandson

There has been some wonderful reaction to the Anne Geddes theme on the iGoogle site and we say thank you to all of those who are using Anne’s theme daily. (There is a link on the blog page.) Anne official, new, Facebook page is also gathering many new friends and it’s lovely to see all the wonderful comments and photos posted.

Topics: anne geddes , babies , facebook , google , igoogle

As you would have gathered from the previous blog, (and others) Anne's new book will have a range of photographs featuring pregnancy.

Anne described in her latest coffee table book, her autobiography, "A Labor of Love", her reasons for her photography of pregnant women. From Anne:-

“Every woman will always remember precisely when she first discovered that she was pregnant. For most it is a transcendent moment…our own personal miracle.

Throughout the past twenty-five years, I have continued to explore photographically the subject of pregnancy.

I hope (the photographs) give women everywhere a confidence that at any stage of pregnancy they are all, in their own special way, absolutely beautiful. In a world that is deluged by a manufactured perception of beauty, it gives me a great deal of pleasure to be able to photograph what is actually “real” beauty.

Pregnant women seem to have an intense aura about them and I am continually fascinated by the concept of the natural creation of a brand-new life and of being able to share your body as another human grows and develops right inside you.”... Anne

Topics: anne geddes , books , new images , photos of babies , pregnancy

Another pregnant lady came into the studio today to be photographed.

Her mother is Chinese and her father from India. This will be her first baby and she was very calm and relaxed about it all. The photo was really lovely! We certainly have a multi-cultural mix of pregnant women, as on the same day, Anne also photographed an African-English lady. This will be her third baby.

It was also this lady’s birthday, so we ordered in a box of cupcakes! (a good excuse for cupcakes) It took a little time before the photograph, as the stylists needed to ‘prepare’ her tummy. I can’t tell you what the preparation involved yet, you will have to wait to see it in the book.

It was rather time consuming, but the woman did not mind, she was quite happy chatting and eating her birthday cupcake, while three people worked on her tummy.

Another lovely photo was the result!

Topics: anne geddes , babies , new images , pregnancy

The 1st samples of the new pure clothing range (mentioned in previous blog, titled Anne's new clothing range)) have arrived direct from New Zealand.

Anne personally photographed the clothing, firstly on its own, hanging from lovely silk twigs and leaves and then dressed some lovely newborns in the range; needless to say they, and the clothing, looked absolutely gorgeous! Images will be posted shortly for you to preview.

The “pure singlet”, the sleeveless undershirt made from soft organic cotton, not only looked lovely, but was a hit with all of the parents whose babies were photographed in this item. Everyone wanted to know when it was available? The mothers were very happy to know that the entire range will be available online and in the Flagship Disney store very soon.

Details will be posted, as well as a video of Anne describing the range and discussing the designs.

Topics: anne geddes , babies , baby clothing , photography , pure , singlet

A baby who came into the studio today was just eight days old. (Anne is very comfortable working with the new-borns as you could well imagine; the studio has been purposefully designed for both the baby and the mothers comfort, and the staff who handle the babies, as well as Anne, have been part of Anne’s team for many years. We also have a trained nurse who is on hand during the shoots to help) Accompanying him was his mother and his great aunt. There were also some other newborns with their mums and dads and grandparents.

While Anne was photographing the babies, the great aunt was keeping the other adults in the studio entertained with stories about her life.

She was a very bright, bubbly and interesting woman. She told us that her husband of forty something years had passed away some years ago. A short time after his passing she decided to take herself on a cruise. Quite out of the blue she struck up a conversation with a fellow passenger. He turned out to be the shipboard entertainment, a comedian/singer/dancer. They have been together ever since. He lives in England and she lives in Australia, but for a good part of the year they cruise all over the world together because he is still entertaining on ships in Europe and the Caribbean and he is in his early 80’s. They enjoy each others company and live life to the full.

She is just the type of Auntie that everybody would love to have. This little 8-day old boy, as he grows up, is sure to be intrigued hearing about his great aunts travels.

It's nice to see that Anne's 'You are a Marvel' video that you can see beside this blog has had over 160,000 views. It's available in eight languages and it is rewarding to see how well it has been received on You Tube.

Topics: babies , care , marvel , trust , video

As we have mentioned before, we see some very interesting people coming to the studio. One grandmother who accompanied her daughter and granddaughter today was dressed in the most beautiful hot pink beaded sari. She is a doctor, as is her husband, and they run a large medical clinic in Mumbai in India. (The city proper of Mumbai is the second most populous city in the world with approximately 14 million people)

She is visiting her daughter in Sydney because of the birth of the new baby, her fourth grandchild. She has two other daughters, both living in the United States, so she has a very busy family schedule, flying from country to country to visit all the new arrivals within her ever expanding family. She was absolutely thrilled to be able to see her new granddaughter photographed by Anne.

Another grandparent who also visited us today is French. She married an Australian and lived in Australia for many years. However now that she and her husband have retired, they spend most of the year at their farm house in the Loire Valley, (The Loire Valley is known as the Garden of France) and the remainder of their time here in Sydney visiting with their children and grandchildren. She too was quite overwhelmed by the fact that she was able to visit Anne’s studio and see her grandson photographed.

Topics: anne geddes , babies , France , grandmothers , grandparents , India , United States

There were four newborn babies in the studio this morning. As always, they were all absolutely beautiful (and very well behaved as always).

One of the fathers, who came in with his baby, told us that he is an anaesthetist in the intensive care unit at one of the major childrens’ hospitals in Sydney working with babies born between 1 and 2 pounds. (approx point five to almost one kilo)

We remarked on what a rewarding job he had, and he said that yes, it was because the success rate was so good with these types of operations on babies in this day and age. A great testament to the skills and knowledge of the medical staff.

He also told us that since he has had his own children it has become far more emotional for him.

Anne showed him her image of ‘Maneesha and Jack’, (above) which first appeared in Anne’s book Until Now, and more recently in her autobiography, A Labour of Love. He was fascinated with the photograph of Maneesha, so tiny, at a little under 1.5 pounds (point 68 of a kilo) when she was born, and just over 2.2 pounds (one kilo) in this image and ready to go home for the first time. (As an aside Maneesa is a very happy and healthy 15 year old this year)

We continue to meet some very interesting, lovely people in the studio.

Topics: anne geddes , babies , maneesha , premie babies

The grandmother who came from Cuba (mentioned in one of our earlier blogs) came into the studio to be photographed by Anne. She was very excited by it all. Her daughter-in-law and her little grandson accompanied her. It was so lovely to see her beautiful grandson again, the team all spent far too much time playing with him and had to stop to allow Anne to take the photos.

The actual shoot went very well, Anne achieved some beautiful photographs (naturally) and the grandmother will be able to take a print back to Cuba with her.

Anne also had an interpreter available because the woman does not speak a great deal of English, she naturally speaks Spanish, but somehow even without the interpreter we all managed to understand one another.

We just have to think of an excuse to have that lovely little grandson back into the studio. Anne mentioned that perhaps his father might like to come to be photographed! A real family affair….....

Topics: anne geddes , babies , cuba , grandmother

One of Anne’s stylists, who we use when we are photographing pregnant women, is actually having a baby herself. So Anne invited her to come in to have her photograph taken for the book. (This is really team involvement!)

She brought her partner in with her, because he is interested in photography himself, and he was fascinated watching Anne at work. Also this is their first baby, so they are both very excited and mentioned that to have Anne photograph her, just capped off a perfect pregnancy.

We of course had another stylist in for the shoot, (not pregnant) and they happened to know one another, because they had worked together before on another project. So it all made for a very relaxed and cheery morning.

We can’t wait to meet the new baby in a couple of weeks time.

Topics: anne geddes , babies , photos of babies , pregnancy

Recently, an African Cultural Day was held in a suburb just West of Sydney. Anne, who has been looking for babies of other nationalities for her new book was invited to attend, and so a few of the team went along as well.

There were many colorful stalls showcasing African craftworks and products and some delicious smelling African food.

Many of the stall holders were also kind enough to spread the word about Anne’s book project to the African community in Sydney, via their respective community groups and clubs.

There was a national radio station broadcasting from the event and they were pleased to be able to interview Anne.

As it turned out, there were quite a few pregnant African-Australian women themselves enjoying the festivities and were very excited at the thought of perhaps having their newborn babies photographed by Anne.

There was African dancing and music and many of the people were dressed in national costume. It was a very happy and vibrant atmosphere and Anne and the team had a most enjoyable time .

Another pregnant lady came into the studio today to be photographed. Her mother is Chinese and her father is Indian, which makes for a very interesting mix as her skin colour is that of a strong milk coffee. This will be her first baby and she is naturally very excited. Anne photographed her in two different ways. The new book will have a number of different images of pregnant women, all in context with Anne’s creative direction for the content.

We will be able to tell you more about the new book this October, and it don’t forget it will be on sale in the Fall of 2010.

Anne also had arranged to photograph a pregnant African-English lady. This will be her third baby. It happened to be her birthday, so we ordered in a box of cupcakes. It was rather time consuming shoot, as Anne was looking to make her tummy “fit” with a “particular look”, but she was quite happy chatting and snacking on one of her birthday cupcakes, while three people worked on her tummy.

Everyone really enjoys this time we have with the new babies and the women who are expecting; the values that Anne has established so well with her photographs make for a wonderful anticipation for those coming in, and make for a friendly, comfortable and enjoyable experience during the photo sessions.

Topics: anne geddes , babies , cup cakes , pregnant

We had the cutest little fellow into the studio today. He is six months old and has just learnt to sit on his own. In fact he was the son of the very same man who was spoken to in the menswear shop by one of Anne’s assistants! (see earlier blog)

Accompanying him was his mother and his grandmother who is visiting from Cuba. He has the most beautiful coffee coloured skin, a mixture of his Cuban and Chilean parents. He was a huge time-waster because he was flirting with everyone in the studio by laughing every time someone looked at him.

At the end of the session, which naturally went very well, Anne also invited the grandmother back to the studio for a shoot!

Topics: anne geddes , babies , baby photo , six month old