PHOTOGRAPHING THE
‘Great River of the West’
A JOURNEY ALONG THE COLUMBIA
Photography exhibit from Robbie McClaran.
TOP: A view of the
border checkpoint
at the Columbia
River’s U.S.-Canada
border crossing.
RIGHT: A triptych
print of the Grand
Coulee Dam.
Photos by
Robbie McClaran
BY LISSA BREWER
Robbie McClaran’s journey along the
banks of the Columbia River began quietly
near his home in the St. Johns neighborhood
of Portland.
From Kelley Point Park, overlooking the
point where the Columbia and Willamette riv-
ers meet, the photographer set up an Eastman
Kodak 2D folding camera and prepared a large
sheet of black and white fi lm.
For eight years, McClaran continued to
follow the river and its people, setting out
whenever time allowed. “It wasn’t a singu-
lar journey, it was done in bits and pieces,”
McClaran said. “I broke the project up into
sections. In some cases, it would be a day
trip, for example driving out from here to
the lower Columbia region, and others were
much longer.”
See Page 10
THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2022 // 9