Anne Geddes calls for parents to take 'real' photos of their children
By Carolyn Tate|
Gone are the days of grabbing a quick 'happy snap' of you kids and sharing it with family and friends.
New research show the pressure to measure up to 'Instagram perfect' photos has resulted in parents taking an average of seven photos of their children before capturing an image they are happy to share.
Legendary Australian photographer Anne Geddes wants to change that thinking. The 'original baby photo influencer' is partnering with Karicare Toddler to encourage parents to share photos that show their children at their messy, honest and chaotic best.
Geddes has abandoned her usual sleeping or passive baby subjects to embrace the unpredictability of toddlers for the Feed The Real campaign.
"I wanted to be a part of a really important message in that you just have to be yourself as a parent, and not be afraid to share the realness of it with other people," Anne told Nine Honey. "And there is a lot of realness in social media, so I don't want to discount that, but there's also a lot of false notions of how parenthood should be."
READ MORE: What Anne Geddes babies look like - then and now
"Sometimes social media can make you lose your confidence as a parent, and so that's why I think it's so important."
Karicare Toddler's research found almost all parents (96 per cent) feel that there's pressure on them to be perfect, and three out of five say they often feel bad after seeing 'perfect' images of other families on social media. It also found 44 per cent of parents feel competitive with other parents on social media, and that almost half feel judged if their child isn't in a coordinated outfit for the photograph.
These feelings of inadequacy have led to a quarter of parents stepping back from sharing posts about their children or family life on social media, and those do share photos are taking an average of seven photos before sharing one they consider to be perfect.
READ MORE: Why Nikolina questioned whether she was 'meant to be a mother'
Anne says she wants the realness of the photos she has taken for the campaign to shine through and inspire parents to take more real shots of their own children, rather than trying to achieve an impossible level of photographic perfection.
"The images are not to script!" she laughs. "You just cannot script them. And in a way that can be a little stressful, if you are looking for a result, but you always get charm, and that's what I think about the little ones.
"They just are what they are, and you cannot change that. They're our original truth in a world of social media, which can be a litany of lies. You never know what's real anymore. And so that's a little bit of the charm factor that I wanted to get through."
Anne is urging parents to share more honest photos of their families online, and says we'd all be better off if they do.
READ MORE: Surprising truth behind teen's 'Mr Burns haircut'
"Just post images for other people," she says. "Post images that allow them to think, 'What I'm doing is okay. I'm doing well. I'm okay.' And that every little moment is one to be cherished."?
And on those days when it seems that everyone's living a picture-perfect life but you, Anne จC a mother of stepmother of four grown up children จC says it happens to all of us.?
"It does get easier," she says. "So embrace the messiness and the sleeplessness, and enjoy the charm of it, if you can actually see the wood for the trees.?
"I can tell stories of what it was like back then when you were just horrified in public when they did all of these things, and now, you can actually laugh about it. And I think that's one of the things that we need to actually embrace."
You can get involved in the campaign by sharing your imperfect photos with the hashtag #KaricareToddlerFeedTheReal, or learn more about the campaign and partnership with Anne Geddes by visiting www.karicaretoddler.com.au/annegeddes?
