The Life Aquatic with Bruce Mozert

Mozert was born in Newark, Ohio, in 1916 and followed his sister Zoë to New York City in the mid-'30s; she became a renowned pinup artist, he a photographer.

Bruce Mozert, by the age of 20, was already an accomplished photographer in N.Y. City.  He came to Silver Springs in the fall of 1938 when they were making Tarzan films. Soon after arriving, he built his first underwater camera case.

The underwater pictures he took were so clear that MGM took them to Hollywood and used them. His pictures were picked up by wire services and magazines throughout the world. Mozert became well known for his underwater photographs, as well as his sexy pin-ups and animal photos.

Bruce Mozert created some of the most memorable kitsch photography in the era of Florida's tourism marketing boom of the 1950's. His underwater shots of beautiful models in crystal-clear waters were sent out on wire services and helped establish Silver Springs as Florida's premier tourist attraction. Gary Monroe has selected some of the best underwater photographs many unseen for decades that capture those heady times in all of their whimsical glory.

Via Photography Office.