How many of you ever take the time to look back through your work?  I mean actually sit down at the archive and look at it just for the sake of looking at it – not just because you happen to be looking for something specific, and take an extra moment to glance at an interesting folder or two?  I don’t hardly ever do this…

It’s a little random, but I started thinking about it the other day and it stuck with me; I hardly ever review my own work.  Which seems rather strange, since it’s work I created for my own enjoyment and to share with others.  But even if a photo is lucky enough to appear here in a post, a week later it’s off the front page and doomed to spend eternity in the dusty bowels of my external HD, along with thousands of others.

Why?

If I were to kick the bucket tomorrow, I have to wonder if anyone would even know where to look for my photo archive – or how to access it and enjoy my work.  There’s a great amount of my last five years tied up in those bytes, a lot of really good memories, and even a few not so good ones.  And I’m starting to realize that I don’t let any of it out enough.  What’s the point of chasing the light to make great images – images that you’re happy to have made – if you never do anything with them?

So here’s a little promise to myself: I’m going to make a better effort to share my work.  That means sitting down with my girlfriend and actually showing her places I’ve been, things I’ve seen, memories I’ve made into pictures.  That means sharing the same with my family next time I see them, instead of just sending a couple of files here and there after a shoot.  It may even mean making one of those cheesy Powerpoint slideshows to send around for the holidays – a “My Year in Photos,” if you will.

This is a good thing for three reasons.  1 – because after all the effort and hours I’ve put into making images, they should be shared, and let out into the light (well, at least the really good ones).  2 – because it will make me review my own work, which is the perfect way to see how I’ve progressed, and where I still need to work.  3 – because the more work I share with the world, the more likely it is that someone will want me to make images for them.

So really, how often do you share/review your own work?