UNDERWATER CAMERAS
Although records date the first underwater photograph to have been taken in 1856 by William Thompson, who used a pole mounted camera, the world’s first official underwater photographer, Frenchman Louis Boutan, began his work in 1893. Boutan was first interested in biology, graduating in 1879 with a Doctorate of Science from the University of Paris. In 1893, he became a professor at the university’s marine biology lab at Banyuls-Sur-Mer. After encountering untouched underwater landscapes up-close, Boutan was inspired to find a way of capturing them and bringing what he saw to the surface. To create his concept of capturing underwater photographs, he contacted his brother Auguste.
Auguste was an engineer and drafted a plan for an underwater camera that allowed for underwater adjustments to the diaphragm, plates, and shutter. The first design even included a method of changing the buoyancy of the camera through an air-filled balloon. Eventually, they produced a smaller design of the camera box, small enough to be lost in seaweed when dropped and able to be lowered to the seafloor by hand. After further experimentation, Boutan became one of the principal – and perhaps one of the only – underwater photographers of his time. In 1898 he published a book detailing his work with underwater photography titled La Photographie Sous-Marine (Underwater Photography). He included several of his illustrations in the book, plus many photos that he had taken over the years.
Being a photographer is all about giving back in a way that all peoples can witness our fantastic landscapes of wonder, both above and below the waves
– Ernest H. Brooks II
Milestones in Underwater Imagery
1893
FIRST UNDERWATER CAMERA
The first underwater camera is invented by Frenchman Louis Boutan, who is inspired by his firsthand experience in underwater landscapes. He later consulted his engineer brother Auguste who initially planned for an underwater camera that allowed for underwater adjustments to the diaphragm, plates and shutter
