Edis Jurcys

Portland, Oregon

Crossing Waters

You could say ferries are bridges carried by water. For these photographs, they mostly took me across Puget Sound in Washington State and New York City’s Hudson River. With water all around me and seagulls flying overhead, I walked the only directions you can go on a ferry-around and around and inside and out. I made many circles on deck, watching people push against the wind and lean on the railing, enjoying the view, as I looked for humor, rhyme, and contrast. Inside, they stared off, read, and napped; and I saw peacefulness and loneliness, reverie and reflection. Looking through either side of the ferries’ windows, I was struck also by the scenes behind and in front of me superimposed on each other. The double-exposure effect from my film camera, and other photos in this series that speak in twos, embody the very dichotomy of ferry travel-indoors and outdoors, riding on water from one place on land to another.