11 Milestones in Underwater Photography
A look at the inventions, innovations and risks that helped make modern-day photography possible beneath the sea:
Louis Boutan1856 William Thompson takes the first underwater photo using an early version of a pole camera in the U.K. Thirty-seven years later, Louis Boutan takes a photo of a diver while submerged.
1914 John Ernest Williamson and his brother, George, shoot the first underwater motion picture.
1926 Dr. William Longley and National Geographic photographer Charles Martin take the first underwater color photo: a hogfish off the Florida Keys.
1956 Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s The Silent World wins the Palme d’Or at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.
AF Archive/Alamy1956 Luis Marden joins Cousteau for a trip from France to the Suez Canal and returns with 1,200 images, the largest collection of underwater color photos at the time.
1960 The first self-contained 35mm underwater camera, the Calypso, is released. It was later rebranded as the wildly successful Nikon Nikonos.
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David Doubilet/National Geographic Creative1970s David Doubilet pushes the limits in underwater photography, crafting many of the techniques used as common practice today, including the over/under shot.
1994 Howard Hall directs the first underwater IMAX 3-D feature, Into the Deep, bringing the ocean to life for viewers in a new dimension.
Related Reading: 3 Underwater Photo Skills You Should Master
Emory Kristof/National Geographic Creative1985 Oceanographer Robert Ballard and photographer Emory Kristof take the first photos of the doomed Titanic on the ocean floor.
2004 The first GoPro video camera is sold, introducing a new era of underwater videography for recreational divers.
2008 Manufacturers offer DSLR cameras with the ability to record high-definition video, allowing photographers to transfer quickly between capturing stills and HD video.
