Each year, the Staten Island Ferry transports more than 22 million people between St. George on Staten Island and Whitehall Street in lower Manhattan. Among these people are commuters, tourists, lovers, and me. My fascination with the Ferry began the first time I came to New York. Since that very first trip across the New York harbor, the Staten Island Ferry has served multiple purposes for me and my relationship with it still fluctuates to this day. It has always remained a place for me to think and be alone, even in a large crowd of people.
I have spent months recording my passing thoughts on the ferry, gazing over the railing into the Upper New York Bay. Masaru Emoto, a Japanese author, researcher, and photographer, believed that humans and water have a very complex relationship, where our thoughts can positively and negatively affect its crystalline structure, making it beautiful or ugly. He photographed these crystals, seeing them not as science or religion, but as art and as truth, holding many essential messages to our lives.
Considering how many people ride the Staten Island Ferry each day, one can only imagine the negative and positive thoughts that have flowed into the water that keeps it afloat.
Where I am in this mix is still uncertain. Each time I ride the ferry a new feeling or thought arises, ranging from the strange calmness a 9:30am ferry ride offers right after rush hour, to the eeriness and emptiness that the 2:00am ride evokes. Though I have been able to create a collection of photographs from these, it is far from finished, as many messages still wait to be discovered in the harbor.