Slight Clutter's Photography Journal: The Ones I Like List of 2011

"Family Photo [In Laws]

All Photos - ©2011 Katya Horner

Slight Clutter: This year-end list goes to eleven.
Blog Reader: Oh, I see. And most year-end lists go up to ten?
Slight Clutter: Exactly.
Blog Reader: Does that mean it's better? Is it any better?
Slight Clutter: Well, it's one better, isn't it? It's not ten.

From the movie "Spinal Tap" -- Slighty Bastardized

Family Photo: A Series. A portfolio is like a family. A family is like a tree. A tree is like every answer to every question, pondered or posed. And here I am, a living portfolio. Defined by what I create. Defined inside what I create.

I can't tell you nearly as much about my year as my photos can, but as I make my way through this year's "The Ones I Like List," I'll do my best to fill in the blanks -- the "where I've been," the "what I've been doing," the "how I've been doing," and the "where I plan to go." I'll also color it with dabs of that which enlightened and sprinkles of those who inspired. And I'm going to be bold, like Nigel Tufnel...and I'm going to break the rules, starting with taking this Top Ten list to eleven -- a Top Eleven.

Why eleven you might ask? Well, I'll be the first to admit that I was an 11:11 on 11/11/11-o-phile, but it's more than that. I am profoundly connected to my portfolio this year. Where in 2010, I suffered through a painful detachment from my work, this year I'm deeply rooted in each and every photo. This year I found myself having to make a Sophie's Choice-like decision at the "Ten Spot," and I wasn't diggin' the prospect of leaving a photo behind. So why do it? I mean, why go through that, you know? After all, as Nigel so wisely points out, eleven is one better than ten.


"Family Photo [Parent and Child]"


"Family Photo [Parent and Child, The Teenage Years]"

I chose Family Photo: A Series, taken in Lake Guntersville, Alabama, because it represents the first time I've shot a series of photos at the same time, processed the photos at the same time and came away with an entire series in a mere couple of days. I'm very giddy about this because it's something that I've wanted deeply, but that has eluded me, for six years. Oh sure, I have my Passionate Earth series, but it's not the same. Those photos were taken on different days, processed on different days, and the very loose series is something that I've been adding to for a few years now. Family Photo: A Series is a stand alone. It's a mini-portfolio from start to finish, it's my latest work, and it's my "sneak in just under the buzzer" selection of the year. It also, just as an aside, represents the first time that I've included photos not previously published on Flickr in my year-end list. It wasn't by design. It's just happened that way.