The Columbia River in Sights and Sounds
Photographer David Kasnic pays tribute to Woody Guthrie and his home
Bright rippling waters, sparkling so bright,
Seldom you see such a beautiful sight.
- “Song of the Coulee Dam”
David Kasnic recently returned to the Pacific Northwest, after years away, with a nostalgic itch. Originally from Wenatchee, Washington, he wanted to photograph his home in a way that resonated with his new perspective from having lived in New York City and Bowling Green, Kentucky.
The result is his latest project, Columbia Collection, which explores singer Woody Guthrie’s journey along the Columbia River and Kasnic’s own relationship with an area.
Each photo from the series is inspired by, and paired with, a Woody Guthrie song (below each photo in this article are links to hear the associated song). It’s a rare musical and photographic pairing that creates an experience fans of either place or artist should experience. Vantage asked Kasnic about the project and inspiration.
How did the idea for this project come to you?
I started making pictures along the Columbia River because of how I felt when I would revisit. This special, isolated, nostalgic feeling in an area that most forget about when they think of the stereotypical green, mountainous Pacific Northwest.
The actual backbone came about later down the road, which was frustrating because I spent a lot of time wandering lost with no direction. Maybe that was a good thing in hindsight. I knew that I wanted and needed to do something that felt 100% right so I think that’s why I kept shooting and let things happen naturally.
What’s it like to return to a familiar area after years away?
I think the work I’ve been doing along the Columbia River is definitely a homecoming of sorts for me. A good majority of the pictures I’ve made thus far are in places and towns that I have been to a thousand times but never really stopped to observe until starting this work.
In high school I always felt the town I lived in, Wenatchee, and the surrounding towns that are scattered along the Columbia River, could have been great places for films to be made. One of my favorite films during that time was The Slaughter Rule, which is a film about rural six-man football and the relationship between one player and a coach. The Slaughter Rule was filmed in Western Montana, which is pretty similar in landscape to Eastern Washington. Although sort of silly looking back, that film had a lot to do with how I saw and currently see the landscape I was surrounded in.
There was and is something really special about the area. Wenatchee is positioned in Washington where the mountains start to fade and the desert of Eastern Washington starts. So I guess when returning to the area that specialness of the place comes back for me and I attempt to capture that feeling in my pictures.
And falls upon the ground.
- “Ramblin’ Round”
What’s your connection with Woody Guthrie’s music?
I was introduced to Guthrie’s famous “Roll on, Columbia” sometime in high school when learning about the Columbia River, specifically about it being the most powerful river in North America. I wish I would have been introduced or came across the entire record then but it didn’t happen until later.
Do you have a favorite song/photograph in this series?
“Pasture’s of Plently” is my favorite song from the record. No specific reason I just think it’s great.
Some gardens and some towers, I guess you know them well,
But now the greatest wonder is in Uncle Sam’s fair lang,
It’s the big Columbia River and the big Grand Coulee Dam.
- “Grand Coulee Dam”
Did you have specific photos that you wanted to make in mind, or was it more of an organic process?
This work has gone through many delving points. At the beginning, I was interested in exploring Native American lore focused on the Columbia River, specifically the prominent male Coyote character, relating to the creation of the river “Coyote and the Columbia.”
Ultimately things never came together just right and I started from scratch. One trip, instead of planning out ideas, where I was going to photograph, etc., I just hit the road and turned on Guthrie’s Columbia River record via Spotify, which I had came across the night before. I started realizing every song on the record was about the Columbia River, and different towns and places along it.
After doing some research and discovering that Guthrie had been commissioned to write songs about the Columbia, specifically the building of the Grand Coulee Dam, which is the largest concrete structure ever built by man. I decided through his lyrics I would make pictures by taking various lines from each song and visualizing them.
“Roll, Columbia, Roll”
Do you have any current projects we should know about?
This is very much still a working project as I’d like to dissect more lyrics that touch on fall, winter and things/places that I haven’t had to the chance to see yet. Aside from that I’ve become obsessed with the various murals painted on the sides of buildings and structures throughout small towns in Washington State. Most of them depict waterfalls, mountains, rail roads, orchards or rivers. What really fascinates me is how these murals interact with their contemporary environment. It’s almost as if there are two places within one happening.
A new cut stone, a new cut stone.
I built my house on a new cut stone,
I’m a livin’ in the light of the morning,
Livin’ in the light of the morning.
- “New Found Land”
Livin’ in the dust was a killin’ me.
- “End of My Line”
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