David Kasnic
Saddlerock
Saddlerock. September 2014. "Columbia Collection" revolves around the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest, which flows through the small mountain town of Wenatchee, Washington where I grew up. Although I have explored many different themes for this work, I eventually began using folk singer Woody Guthrie’s “Columbia River Songs” as a catalyst into a contemporary depiction of the river. “Columbia River Songs” is a 26-song record chronicling Guthrie’s journeys along the Columbia River, in which he was hired to write songs for the Bonneville Dam Administration; specifically the Columbia’s significance to the region and continent, as it provides more than 40 percent of North America’s hydroelectric generation. I attempt to visualize Guthrie’s experience by taking lyrics from each of his songs, turning relic folklore about the Columbia into photographic depiction of it. In the process of pursuing a body of work that is multilayered I let my emotions take hold while photographing. As a result, my work about the Columbia River is ultimately rooted in a mixture of both love and fear of the body of water that has shaped the person I have become.
