THE END OF THE VALLEY
“The end of the valley”, in geographical terms, refers to the southern- most end of the Applegate Valley, where it gets swallowed up within the convergence of three mountain ranges - the Cascades, the Siskiyous, and the Klamath ranges in southern Oregon.
But “the end of the valley”, figuratively speaking, refers to a way of life that is being lost, and may eventually look nothing like life in the rural valley that the pioneers founded. Lindsay Applegate was a gold miner and pioneer of this area, and when one explores deeply into the valley and the mountains around it, life may appear to have changed very little from those gold rush days. But the signs of change are all around, as people from more wealthy, urban areas of the west coast begin to settle here in larger numbers.
This photo documentary is an attempt to show how life has been lived - and is still being lived - by the people who have a history with the land, and by people who live close to the land. Many of them are second, or third generation inhabitants, and some have family lines that go back even further in the Applegate Valley. In their own words, they have shared some of their memories of life as it was in the past and how they see life changing. Excerpts from some of these interviews are interspersed amongst the photographs. The photographs themselves show a way of life that may not last, not in the Applegate Valley at least. As the land becomes more and more valuable, and increasing numbers of people move in, the farmers and cattle ranchers get squeezed out, and the deer hunters and gold miners have to venture further into the wilderness to avoid trespassing.
Melissa Fischer
Ashley Valmere Fischer is an alumna of the Tisch School of Art, Photography and Imaging Department at New York University. She is the recipient of the Rosenberg Grant 2008, given annually to a selected NYU graduate. This grant helped to fund this photo documentary project on the Applegate Valley.