This past weekend, I sat down with 1TB of personal work and diligently went through it. When we moved back from Japan, just one box was lost in the move – the box with all of my personal family and portfolio books.

Sitting down to read Annie Leibovitz’s Life Behind the Lens, I was reminded how important both our professional work and personal work is to our families. Sure, we spend day in and day out shooting for our clients, but years from now, it will be how our families know us and our work, that will be truly important.

I sat down on a Sunday evening and sifted through thousands and thousands of photos. I was using Photo Mechanic (the fastest browser ever), and it still took forever. Sifting through these photos, I saw the birth of my children, my wedding anniversaries, vacations and the growth of my personal work. I, literally, saw my life pass before my eyes.

It was a lot of work, but also it was a lot of fun. I finished two projects, “Japan 2003-2010″ and the re-work of my first son’s younger years. I’m starting a book of my second son’s younger years in Japan now.

These books will be my legacy to my children. They will help them understand who I am as a person and a photographer. There are a ton of options out there for your personal work, from inexpensive press books, to very expensive albums.

So, for a while, forget profit, forget business and spend some time recording your work and your life for you and your loved ones.

Fundy

The images here are from Fundy’s personal retrospect “Japan 2003-2010″. Fundy is the creator or the Fundy Album Builder and co-creator of Mobile Fotographer. Click here for free trials.

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