The first time Kristopher Shinn brought his camera onto a ferry was in 2020, after his sister moved from South Seattle to Bainbridge Island. He went along to help with the move, snapped a few photos, and soon found himself bringing the camera on every crossing. Over the next two and a half years, those crossings became the foundation for By Way of Water, his self-published photo book of life aboard Washington State Ferries.

“I just found myself drawn to isolated passengers or capturing the little details people overlook, like the color of the railings or the different booths on each ferry,” Shinn says. “The ferries are all a little stuck in time, which matched the feeling of shooting on film.”

Many of the photographs were taken on his late father’s 35mm Canon camera, which his mom gave him after finding it during the pandemic. His father had died when Shinn was 18, and the camera had been his. Using it gave the work a personal as well as a visual connection. “I could not have been more excited,” he says.

The resulting images are quiet and observant: strangers napping in booths, sunlight spilling across the floor, a couple working on a jigsaw puzzle with the Seattle skyline framed behind them. “These moments are happening on the ferries,” Shinn says. “There’s a lot of life. You never know what someone’s going through, but I feel like on the ferry everything kind of stops.”

Scenes from Shinn’s By Way of Water capture quiet, everyday moments aboard Washington State Ferries, with a second volume due out later this year.

Photos by Kristopher Shinn

For him, those pauses are more than visual opportunities. They’ve become a kind of reset. “I’ve dealt with some health struggles in the last year and every time I was on the ferry it felt like there was a lightness to it,” he says. “Because you’re not here or there. People call them liminal spaces.” It’s a feeling he ties to the rhythm of the water and the views that open up in every direction. “It’s hard to feel weighed down when you’re between Seattle and Bainbridge, seeing Mount Rainier to the right and, on a good day, Mount Baker in the distance with the lighthouse at Discovery Park.”

Shinn grew up in the Bay Area, where ferries were mainly a way to get somewhere. “Having grown up in the Bay, we had the San Francisco Bay, but you weren’t really out in the water unless it was a decision to rent a boat or take a ferry from Oakland to San Francisco for a Giants game,” he says. “It’s just a way of getting from here to there, but I take the ferry just to have the experience. Lately I’ve been telling my wife we should go on ferries at 9 p.m. to catch the summer sunsets. They’ve been insane.”

Of course, not everyone shares his enthusiasm. “Some people love the ferry. Others can’t stand waiting two hours in the summer, sitting in their car, or they’re sick of eating the clam chowder and cheeseburgers,” he says. “But I’m still green. Every time I take a ferry, I’m excited.”

The Bainbridge route is his most frequent, but he also loves the longer sailings out of Anacortes. “That one feels otherworldly,” he says. “You’re not seeing a whole lot of civilization between point A and point B. From a shooting perspective, having more time to run around and shoot—I enjoy it. The one from Edmonds is only about 20 minutes. You get out of your car, load your film, run around looking for stuff, and then it’s, ‘We’re now arriving.’ I might shoot a roll and a half if I’m lucky. Bainbridge is a sweet spot—that 40, 45 minutes is perfect.”

Shinn’s eye gravitates toward moments most travelers might miss. “I’m not climbing mountains or chasing cold-water surfers,” he says. “But seeing that kind of adventure photography inspired me to get out and do things, whatever that is. And maybe someone visiting Seattle for the first time sees my photos and decides to bring a camera on their ferry ride. Maybe they weren’t going to do that before. That, for me, is why.”

Photographer Kristopher Shinn finds beauty in the fleeting, everyday scenes most ferry passengers might overlook.

Photo courtesy of Kristopher Shinn

About 500 copies of By Way of Water have sold so far, with a second volume in the works. Shinn hopes to release it alongside a solo gallery show in Seattle later this fall. “You’ll see the progression,” he says. “These photos are still me, but they’re stronger. I’m more comfortable now. More intentional.”

The book is available online and at several local shops.

Stockists include Flora & Henri, Woodland Mod, Homage, and Third Place Books in Ravenna, along with multiple shops on Bainbridge Island (Eagle Harbor Books, Dana’s on Bainbridge), and locations in Friday Harbor and Orcas Island.