From collection Kosti Ruohomaa Collection
Island in Mohawk River 3
A small island of rock sits in the Mohawk River. The river bank is lined by old mills and industrial buildings. The view is framed by two slender trees on the near bank in the foreground.
In 1945, Kosti Ruohomaa produced a photo essay for LIFE Magazine titled "Mohawk Valley." The accompanying article begins: "Along its 150-mile course from Rome, N.Y. to Cohoes, where it flows into the Hudson, the Mohawk River lies in a fertile rolling valley which, since before remembered history, has been a vital corridor through the eastern mountains” p. 103.
The article is a history lesson, touching on Mohawk Native Peoples, brutal 17th and 18th century wars, and the construction of the Eerie Canal. Kosti Ruohomaa took over 500 photographs for this assignment for LIFE Magazine. Ruohomaa's images include rolling farmland, historic structures, memorial monuments, and dramatic natural wonders. Over 20 of Kosti Ruohomaa’s photographs were published in the November 12, 1945 issue of LIFE Magazine on pages 103-111.
