First underwater photo
Photographer: Louis Boutan
Date: 1899
Location: Banyuls-sur-Mer, France
Louis Boutan, a French marine biologist at the Arago Laboratory in Banyuls-sur-Mer, France, created the first known underwater photographs in 1899 by designing and building a waterproof housing for a camera. He developed two systems: one for shallow water (a simple glass-fronted box) and one for deeper work using a pressurized chamber. The photographs required extremely long exposures and used artificial magnesium flash lighting. Boutan published a book on underwater photography in 1900 describing his techniques. His pioneering work laid the groundwork for underwater photography and cinematography, which would not develop substantially until Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Harold Edgerton developed improved equipment in the 1940s and 1950s.
← Explore all photos on the map
