Brentwood resident Steven Anderson takes photographs of sharks and other ocean life under water.

Get up close with Brentwood resident's underwater photography, shark preservation work

By JOAN LAWLER
For Brentwood Home Page
The Friends of the Brentwood Library feature the underwater photography of Brentwood resident Steven Anderson in both the Glass Showcase and the Gallery Wall during the month of July. 

Anderson is a freelance photographer who enjoys traveling and photographing nature and marine life.  He operates from his Brentwood home and has been diving and taking photographs around the world for many years. 

Steven Anderson photos are on display at the Brentwood Library through the month of July. (Submitted photos)

Steven remembers learning to swim in his family’s pool.  His mom would bribe him and his brother with toys such as the early G.I. Joe figures to learn to swim. His dad taught him scuba diving, and his first dive with mask and snorkel was when he was about 9 years old.

Anderson, his brother, and his dad spent summers at Riviera Beach and at Long Key State Camp snorkeling and diving. They often played "Sea Hunt," copying what they had seen on TV that week.

He says that he was SOLD on snorkeling on his very first snorkeling trip. His visits to the Miami Seaquarium, inspired by the sharks, manatees, turtles, and the varieties of fish there, cemented his love of the sea. 

Steven’s father bought him his first Instamatic camera in a waterproof housing when he was about 12 years old, and since that time he has been improving his skills and cameras.

Many of Anderson's images can be found on websites, brochures, magazines and newspapers such as the monthly  “Alert Diver,” and websites such as Sea Life Cameras,  www. liquidBluedivers.com and www.divingindepth.com.  He often posts on underwater websites and forums and is always in search of the knowledge that others have.

Many of his underwater photos concentrate on the beauty of the Caribbean because it is not too far from Tennessee.

“I like the ability to get somewhere quickly. There is never time to waste,”  Anderson said.

He believes that every image has a story and a connection to the subject.

“It is my mission to make the same connection with the subject and with the viewer by way of my image," Anderson said.

Steven is very involved in the worldwide effort to promote shark conservation.

“Shark conservation is very important in order to maintain a proper balance in ur oceans that cover more than 75 percent of our planet," Anderson said. " Without sharks in our oceans, the ability to illustrate the beauty of the ocean might vanish.”