Bruce Mozert’s imaginative underwater photography captured a bygone era and a unique time in not only Florida’s past, but also in the postwar years of America.
Pioneering Underwater Photography
In the remarkably clear waters of Silver Springs in central Florida, Mozert pioneered underwater photography by developing waterproof housings for cameras that allowed photography to go deep below water while also perfecting lighting techniques. For over four decades he composed scenes with submerged people doing seemingly everyday yet dreamlike activities given the underwater context.
A Surreal Vision
Bruce Mozert’s meticulous production values and surreal vision composing the scenes resulted in many of the most clever and attention grabbing images in the mid-twentieth century. Through these highly original images, Silver Springs was established as Florida’s premier tourist destination during the 1950s and came to symbolize an era before the days of Disney World.
Today
Today at the age of 98, Mozert continues to develop the photographs he took all those years ago, but they are now presented in a larger and more immersive format. Truly a symbol of the time the images come from, Mozert’s original underwater photographs from Silver Springs are a remnant of a unique period and capture the feeling of postwar Americana.