Meningitis under the lens of Anne Geddes

Anne Geddes: the photographer’s eye on meningitis

What made you want to support the Confederation of Meningitis Organizations?

I have been photographing babies for thirty years. For all these years, I am an advocate and ambassador for children. I am involved in various causes of fight against the mistreatment of minors. Having been invited to collaborate on this project therefore corresponded to my personal values ​​and my artistic approach. The Confederation, which coordinates all the national organizations for the fight against meningitis, is very useful in the countries where I have been able to go to photograph survivors of the disease. And she was also very efficient in organizing the photoshoots.

In total, I photographed 15 models : 3 in Australia, 6 in Great Britain, from Ireland, Spain, England and Germany. Finally in Toronto, last February, I met 6 other survivors from Canada and Brazil.

Did you know this disease before? Were you directly or indirectly affected by meningococcus B or C?

I have two daughters, who are now 27 and 30 years old. When they were little in the 1980s-90s we lived in Auckland, New Zealand, and at that time, an epidemic of meningitis B was raging in the country. As the symptoms are very similar to those of the flu, and can go unnoticed, it was talked about a lot on TV, there were a lot of advertisements on the subject. Whenever the girls caught a cold or had a health problem, I was immediately very worried.

For this campaign against meningitis, you produced a collection of portraits of children suffering from the after-effects of the disease: amputations, marks on the body… What message did you want to convey through these photos?

As meningitis mainly affects children and adolescents, it was important to have all age groups in the series of portraits. I was able to photograph survivors of the disease aged 9 months to 25 years. The youngest was affected by meningococcus at 4 months. Having a baby was important in order to make parents aware of the risks that could affect infants. Through this campaign, I wanted to convey several messages. The first: “know how to recognize the symptoms of meningitis”. This is essential because it is a relatively rare disease and the signs are close to the flu. However, we must act quickly. I want to tell parents, you know your children better than anyone, and that’s what will make you recognize the symptoms.

Second point that I wanted to highlight: “check with your doctor that your child is up to date with his vaccinations”. Moreover, by making these portraits, I realized that this project was also a way of informing doctors. The majority of them have difficulty identifying the signs of the disease or have never seen children with meningitis, yet this disease can be suddenly fatal.

Some survivors are also photographed with their able-bodied brothers and sisters …

Yes, it was important for me to have role models with their families. This, which supports the sick and takes care of them on a daily basis, is essential for reconstruction. JI wanted to show that the disease impacts the lives of victims but also that of their loved ones.

And then, it was very interesting to see the interactions between brothers and sisters and to see that children, even if they are sick, remain children.

What was your best encounter?

It’s hard to choose but I would say Harvey. 8 years ago. During our meeting, I asked him who his best friend was. He replied a dolphin, also amputated of the tail, which has a false fin.

A week after the photoshoot, he wrote me a letter explaining that for the first time in his life, he was proud of his amputations. For me it was fantastic.

The general public knows you especially for your poetic photos of infants. Here you show the cruelty of illness and the innocence of children, while keeping your artistic and romantic touch. Was it a more difficult job to do, emotionally especially?

It is true that I am often associated with these images of babies staged in a flowerpot. But for thirty years, I did a lot of other things. However, before starting this project, I spent a few weeks thinking about how I was going to feel things, how I was going to present these images, what unity I was going to find in these models coming from different country.

It was necessary to deliver a shocking message without the images being. The public should not look away. In the end, it was not difficult to achieve since the people I photographed were so beautiful and brave. This is one of the most important projects I have been able to do so far.

On a daily basis, we see so many images of starving children, abused for fundamental causes, but the photos illustrate the misfortune. I wanted to show that their state does not define them. They are not limited to their amputation and remain magnificent.

A way to shake things up by showing reality in another way, in short?

In any case, that’s what I’m trying to do. All of the families have deliberately agreed to have their photos taken with the goal that it will never happen again and that it will benefit others. The irony of this is that we won’t know how many children we have saved …

In France, the meningococcal C vaccine is recommended from 12 months. The one against meningococcus B, Bexsero, has been available since December 2013. But it is only recommended in areas and populations at risk by the High Council of Public Health, because uncertainties remain. What is your take on the matter?

I am of course an advocate for immunization but it is not me to interfere in national policies. I only photographed survivors from 15 countries.  

My job as an artist is to get the message across. The idea is actually to say, “How can you hesitate to vaccinate your children after seeing these pictures?” “.

This is not the first time that you are involved in the cause of children. You were also an ambassador for the United Nations. Tell us about it.

Indeed, I am an ambassador for the “Shoot a life” movement, whose objective is to supply developing countries with vaccines. You should know that a child dies from a disease that could be prevented by the vaccine every 20 seconds. My dream as a photographer would be to go to all these countries and do with these children a job similar to that against meningitis. And take photos that really stand out with the images you usually see in reports.