Until Now

Anne Geddes' photographs of babies have charmed countless fans for many years. In Until Now, Geddes takes us behind the scenes to find out what she was thinking when she captured these images, her 113 most-favorite photographs. Her text also provides a background to each photograph and helps readers understand how this artist and her subjects work together.Consider, for example, Geddes' comments about the shot she captured in 1991, which she titled "Rebecca": "She didn't want to hold the tulips, and she didn't want to sit on the chair-there were too many other things to be done. How do you get a 14-month-old to sit still' Show her the jelly bean, and then put it down her trousers."From signature photos of newborns to touching interactions between parent and child to enthusiastic poses from older children, this gift-size hardcover edition of Until Now gathers together Geddes' most revealing and compelling work. Whether she's posing babies in the garden or in the studio, Anne Geddes' deep affection for babies and children is obvious in the award-winning images she creates.

It's not all costumes, though--the 1997 portrait of Caleb, 3 weeks old, is a beautiful, unretouched close-up of the sweetly sleeping newborn, belly-button still poking out and skin peeling. A portrait only a mother could love? Hardly. Caleb's perfect little sleeping face would evoke maternal feelings from a stone. Particularly fun and often touching are Geddes's notes at the back of the book. For example, of "Rebecca," she writes, "How do you get a 14-month-old to sit still? Show her the jelly bean, and then put it down her trousers." The resulting photograph is of a lovely, mop-headed, tummy-grabbing toddler peering intently at her own navel. Incorporating both rich color and black-and-white photographs, Until Now will delight parents, grandparents, and baby-lovers of all sizes. --Rebecca A. Staffel