A new body of work by BFA Photography student Michael Anthony Schmidt is attracting international attention, thanks to a recent CNN story. Schmidt, a reservist in the U.S. Coast Guard who is stationed on Staten Island and takes the ferry on his commute to SVA, recently started taking pictures of the other passengers. In just 18 images, taken over a period of three months, Schmidt hints at the thousands of stories that intersect on the ferry every day. “The diversity is just incredible,” he tells writer Lauren Russell.

“For some who ride the Staten Island Ferry, it’s a daily routine. They’re putting makeup on in the bathroom on their commute to work and napping with headphones during their ride home,” Russell writes. “For others, it’s an attraction. They’re taking photographs in front of the Statue of Liberty from the ferry’s top deck to remember their first trip to the Big Apple.”

Schmidt also plans to document the coming of the Staten Island Ferris wheel, expected to open in December 2015.

Read the article and view the slideshow on CNN.com. See more of Schmidt’s work on his website.