Anne - Biography

(1995) – Anne’s first baby journal; with more than 3 million copies in print, it remains a treasured keepsake edition for families worldwide. (1996) – Anne’s first large-format gift book and a critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller for more than three months. It was also a Los Angeles Times bestseller, returned to the New York Times bestseller list in 1997, and was included among the year’s best books in Entertainment Weekly ‘97 Yearbook. There are now more than 1.5 million copies in print. (1998) – A book that combines Anne’s remarkable images of children with her specially selected quotes from such prominent figures as Eleanor Roosevelt, Hans Christian Andersen, Mother Teresa and others. It has sold more than 747,000 copies. (1998) – Printed in eight languages, this large-format photographic retrospective was a London Sunday Times bestseller and was the #1 Bestselling Illustrated Book on the Livre Hebdo list in France. It received the “Kodak Fotobuch Preis 1998,” called “the most prestigious award an illustrated book can receive in Germany.” Until Now has more than 975,000 copies in print. (2002) – Five years in the making, launched simultaneously in Europe and the U.S., PURE was an impressive visual statement of the new directions Anne was pursuing in photography and received international acclaim. Anne’s third large-format coffee table book, it remained at #1 on the Barnes and Noble Best Photographic Books bestseller list for 10 straight weeks. There are 275,000 copies in print. (2004) – Published simultaneously in 22 countries, MIRACLE was an instant New York Times bestseller and remained on the list for six weeks. This large-format book was also a Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and BookSense bestseller and was awarded the “Family Choice Award” as “Best Picture Book”-2005 by the Family Magazine Group. In Germany, MIRACLE was a prestigious GEO magazine bestseller. It was also a Livre Hebdo Illustrated Books bestseller in France. With a half million copies in print, MIRACLE is packaged with a companion Miracle audio CD by premier contemporary pop singer Céline Dion (Sony Music) and the making-of-the-book DVD. (Worldwide Release 23rd October 2007)

Together Anne and her husband and business partner, Kel Geddes, combine their talents in their company Geddes Group Holdings Ltd. As an integral part of this company, Kel Geddes Management Limited has the responsibility for all marketing, promotion, business administration, operations, and the production of books, calendars and other items. Anne and Kel share their time between New Zealand and Australia and have two daughters.

Since they were introduced, Anne Geddes calendars have been bestsellers. In 1992, Anne combined her interest in creating her first calendar of selected images with her commitment to “give back” in response to a call for assistance and raised more than US $20,000 toward the prevention of child abuse in New Zealand. Her subsequent U.S. calendar editions received special recognition, as the Calendar Marketing Association awarded her 1996 calendars and date books two Gold Awards and one Bronze, and her 1997 “A Collection of Images” calendar was ranked #1 in sales, according to the Calendar Club. The Anne Geddes 2002 calendar program ranked in the top 15 of all calendar licensed programs in the US and Canada. Published in 51 countries, there have been more than 13 million Anne Geddes calendars and datebooks printed. In 2007, the 18th edition of Anne Geddes calendars is released.

The Anne Geddes website remains an international success story, attracting more than 3 million unique visitors yearly from more than 200 countries. When launched in 1999, annegeddes.com was listed as #1 on Yahoo’s New Best of the Week Sites, named a Hot Site by USA Today, and received the CoolSTOP Best of the Cool Award. The site and web newsletter have received numerous awards for design and content. An exclusive range of member purchase benefits are available through a premium subscriber service called extra ten10, introduced in 2008.

Anne and Kel Geddes are committed to "giving back" and honoring the preciousness of children. Since 1992, designated funds from the range of Anne Geddes products totaling more than US $3.5 million have been donated through the non-profit Geddes Philanthropic Trust to help prevent child abuse and neglect in Australia, New Zealand, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Charities include the C. Henry Kempe National Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect. In 2001, the Geddes Philanthropic Trust announced a $1 million contribution to Childhelp USA to help support the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline. In early 2005, more than $83,400 of nominated returns from the Anne Geddes Bank of America credit cards was donated to the UNICEF South Asia Tsunami Relief Effort. Following Hurricane Katrina in the U.S., more than 20,000 items of Anne Geddes Baby clothing were donated to benefit the babies affected by relocation, and in many cases, separation from their parents.

In 1998, a Geddes Fellowship program to fund a dedicated primary physician concentrating in the identification, treatment, and research of child abuse and neglect commenced at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Sydney, Australia. In 2006, Anne and Kel Geddes established the Geddes Fellowship at the Children’s Hospital at Orange County, California, on the hospital’s Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) team. A Geddes Fellowship was established in 2007 at Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. An essential part of this Fellowship is a travel grant to enable communication and an exchange of ideas and findings.

Launched in 2001, Anne’s elegant and timeless collection of clothing and accessories for infants and toddlers is designed by Anne and reflects the emotional values of warmth, trust, nurturing, and caring inherent in her images. Supported by Anne’s years of experience with new babies, and her conversations with more than 2,000 mothers over the years, the Anne Geddes Baby clothing collection is beautifully crafted from soft, luxurious, quality fabrics with special attention to detail and finishing. In 2007, a line of adult Maternity T-Shirts was introduced. Anne Geddes Baby clothing and accessories, and other Anne Geddes gifts, are available online from annegeddes.com and brandalley.co.uk, at the flagship Anne Geddes retail store in the Downtown Disney® District, in Anaheim, California, and at the Wynn LVNV store at the Wynn Las Vegas, as well as a select group of prestige retailers such as Dillards.