As a photographer I obviously take a lot of pictures - although some months my camera gets a little dusty - but they are always pictures of the “outside” world. Very rarely do I take photos of just my every day life, friends and family. Maybe this is due to me being camera shy and my husband avoiding the camera like the plague. Blurred middle fingers in a shot are usually deleted pretty quickly. However, I also love photography as a medium for recording a time, a place, a moment, and how capturing that allows you to relive that moment, at least in some small way. I have a box of photos from my childhood that have yet to make it into an album. Another box of wedding photos that I have hardly even sorted through. I have DVD’s and CD’s of backups of photos, but nothing really tangible where I can sit down with a cup of tea and reminiscence.

I started thinking about all of this after watching the recent episode of “The Genius of Photography” on BBC. Nobuyoshi Araki, a photographer and artist, published a book every month of his daily life, along with his other more serious publications such as Sentimental Journey (photos from his honeymoon) and Winter Journey (photos of his wife’s death) .  I found this fascinating. I love the idea of recording my own life in a book of photos. Who needs albums when you can just create books - especially when you have sites like Blurb.com to make it so easy. I’m not quite ambitious enough (or perhaps I am just realistic) to take on a project of a book a month, but I have decided to create a book a season throughout 2008. None of the posed or planned shots - all just candid, and natural, and truly reflective of our lives.  If it works out, perhaps I’ll continue and these will serve as our family memories - the good and the bad.