Her Helm: Photographer Kristin Rutkowski on Capturing the Chesapeake's Women Captains

by Kate Livie

The maritime world is a superstitious place. Even today, omens and lore from centuries ago persist. Never begin a sea voyage on a Friday. Whistling on a boat conjures a storm. Bananas on a boat will cause the whole vessel to be lost. But perhaps the most enduring superstition, and one that still echoes through our modern boating culture, is the notion that women are bad luck on boats. In 1808, admiral of the British Navy Cuthbert Collingwood wrote, “I never knew a woman brought to sea in a ship that some mischief did not befall the vessel.”

This belief meant that for centuries, sailors, captains, and crew were all—and only—men. The message was clear: The water is a man’s world.

Even today, in a world of science over superstition, the notion proves a difficult one to shift. For portrait photographer Kristin Rutkowski, a self-described huge feminist, it was a surprise to realize she had internalized that concept, too.

“My husband and I had a sailboat, and we did day sails and cruised around the Bay. And as we went to different marinas, I didn’t think I saw women that had their own boats. I thought the women I saw were like me—there with their husband or partner, on his boat, doing his hobby. I didn’t think I saw women in charge of their own boats because I didn’t expect to see them.”

But as she cruised around the Chesapeake, she met one woman after another capably operating or captaining her own vessel. Not only was her assumption wrong, but having it confronted was inspiring. Her realization sparked an idea.

As a portrait photographer, Rutkowski is passionate about empowering her subjects through images that highlight their confidence, courage, and humanity. She was also looking for a new side project. Perhaps, she thought, a portrait series on women captains could correct the stereotype—while uplifting and highlighting the women captains who had changed her own perspective.

“More and more women are out there, and I wanted to increase the visibility of women on the water. To normalize the idea that when you see a boat, the woman on it could be the captain. You don’t have to say, ‘Where’s your husband? Where’s your dad?’”

The two-year project, which Rutkowski would call “Her Helm,” kicked off in late summer 2020.

Rutkowski began by reaching out to women in her own network. Her husband knew the first woman she photographed, Janet Rupp, a fishing charter captain out of Herrington Harbor South.

It was impromptu, Rutkowski says, before she had developed her process for arranging and shooting the portraits. “I just saw her boat come in, so I grabbed my camera and ran down there to introduce myself.” Rutkowski was able to snap a few shots and chat with Rupp about her work as a captain.

It was a good first shoot, but off the cuff. Rutkowski already saw ways to improve.

The first element Rutkowski wanted to hone was style. Although she was happy with Rupp’s candid portrait, she envisioned a series of posed portraits, set in an environment or on a vessel the subject was comfortable with. Rutkowski also wanted to photograph her subjects in a way that emphasized each woman’s confidence, character, and strength.

“I could have gone out and photographed all these women doing

the gritty, hard work. Some of these women are charter captains, some work on commercial vessels, some are sailboat racers. I could have gotten the sweat and grime and work. But I wanted to carefully pose these women, to make them look as amazing sitting on a boat as they feel inside, powerful. They are the masters of that realm, and I wanted that to come across.”

Rutkowski also needed a way to find women for the series. She was accustomed to portrait photography clients coming to her.

“I got much better at reaching out cold to people, and eventually, I started building contacts through word of mouth,” she said. “It forced me to break out of my shell a little bit.”

Rutkowski also wanted to capture her subjects’ personal histories and anecdotes, like her first shoot with Capt. Rupp. And ideally, she’d get a chance to talk to everyone beforehand, to establish a rapport and help make the women comfortable before she met them at the dock.

“Being in front of the camera is a really vulnerable feeling, so the time they spent with me, even if just over Zoom, helped us build trust before every shoot.” Rutkowski built a website she could use to cultivate subjects and set up interviews, and also to share her ongoing work.

Rutkowski’s outreach paid off. Eventually, women from all corners of the Chesapeake were drawn to the project. Rutkowski would ultimately shoot more than 50 portraits of women captains representing a wide array of occupations and recreational activities, including safety boat captains, tall ship captains, cargo ship captains, tugboat captains, and captains who sail in long distance races.

There were women captains of all ages, ethnicities, and upbringings. Some of the captains even had a close connection to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, like Edna Lockwood captain Rosie DiMatteo.

“You might have an idea in your mind, myself included, that all women on the water are the same, but there is so much variety, especially in how they came to be on the water,” Rutkowski said. “Some of them had support all of their lives and were never told, ‘Oh, girls don’t do that.’ But some of them had to overcome huge challenges and had to tackle the idea that boating is something women don’t do.”

Over the two years, Rutkowski traveled throughout the Chesapeake photographing each woman captain in her own environment—an element of the project that provided a unique challenge for every shoot.

"From an artistic point of view, every boat is different, every woman is different, the scenery, background, marina, so I would have to work really fast, assessing the woman, the sunlight, and the places for good portraits on her boat."

Although Rutkowski won't name a favorite subject, she does appreciate the artistic beauty of some of the portraits, especially given the demanding, on-the-fly nature of the shoots.

"The one of Joyce Kucharski, I remember coming home and I was so excited," she said. "The sunset behind her on the bowsprit of her boat, the sun peeking through. I really love the picture."

Shoots in less conventionally attractive settings also turned out to be standouts: “The shoot with Jen Bowie, it was in a shipyard, this grungy commercial place, but the portrait turned out so beautifully. It really tells a story.”

After each shoot, Rutkowski would review the shots and edit a selection. She would then share the final, edited portrait with each of her subjects. It was often an emotional moment.

“When the captains saw the final picture, they would have tears in their eyes,” she said. “They had never seen themselves looking confident, in position on their boat. They were happy with the feeling of comfort and empowerment that the photograph evoked.”

Along the way, Rutkowski realized her work was confronting an important issue. While many of her subjects grappled with a lack of confidence or a feeling of impostor syndrome, these portraits each featured a powerful, confident captain. In many cases, Rutkowski saw her work creating a moment of self-awareness and self-confidence that she found profoundly moving.

“Every one of them had this special spark inside of them,” she said. “I would tell the women—there are other people, other captains looking at your portrait and reading your paragraph who are saying how amazing and inspiring you are.

“Every woman in the series could be a role model. No matter how shy or intimidated they were about the portrait session, or how they felt about their role and what they accomplished, giving them a tangible way to see themselves positively and build their confidence was really rewarding.”

An exhibition of “Her Helm” images will be on view in CBMM’s Van Lennep Auditorium, starting on Friday, Sept. 8. The exhibition will feature a selection of Rutkowski’s portraits and share stories about the initiative’s Chesapeake women captains while also serving as the launch of a “Her Helm” book.

Rutkowski believes the unique project has even more room to grow. She has heard from women across the country and beyond who want to participate.

“I restricted myself to the Bay to allow myself possibilities in the future,” Rutkowski said. “Maybe one day there will be a Great Lakes edition of “Her Helm,” or a West Coast, or a Gulf or a Florida.”

Even the Chesapeake project continues to evolve. Just as the “Her Helm” book was set to go to print in May, Rutkowski was able to squeeze in a 51st portrait, this one highlighting a Bay pilot with her vessel. ★