Stanton A. Waterman (born April 5, 1923) is a five-time

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

winning

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

and underwater

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

.Stan Waterman: Toward the Edge of Extinction ( ocean sharks ) video clip

Career

Waterman first obtained a hand-made Japanese diving mask in the early 1930s, long before they were being made in the West or in common circulation. He first used it as a boy at

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intrac ...

. After returning home from service in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during World War II, he became the first resident of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...

to purchase an aqualung, designed by

Jacques Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful Aqua-Lung, open-circuit SCUBA ( self-contained underwater breathing apparatus). T ...

. Waterman graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

, where he studied with Robert Frost, in 1946 with a degree in English. He began his SCUBA diving career in the Bahamas where he owned and operated a diving charter business from 1954 until 1958. His big break came in 1965 when he filmed a year-long family trip to

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...

purchased the rights to the work and showed it on television.International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame
/ref> He was a producer and photographer on the 1971 film '' Blue Water, White Death'' which was the first cinematic filming of the great white shark. Waterman was the subject of a

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...

biographical special titled ''The Man Who Loves Sharks''. Working with his son, he won the first father and son Emmy for the

National Geographic Explorer ''National Geographic Explorer'' (or simply ''Explorer'') is an American documentary television series that originally premiered on Nickelodeon on April 7, 1985, after having been produced as a less costly and intensive alternative to PBS's ' ...

production ''Dancing With Stingrays''. Television credits include ''The American Sportsman'' (1965), ''The Bermuda Depths'' (1978), and ''The Explorers'' (1973) and film credits include ''The Deep'' (1977) and ''Jaws of Death'' (1977). He won five

Emmy awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for his work on underwater films and TV programs. In 2005 Waterman wrote ''Sea Salt: Memories and Essays'', with forewords by Peter Benchley and Howard Hall.personal communication He also wrote essays for Ocean Realm magazine. In 2013, Waterman took his last dive in the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

at the age of 90.

References

External links

* interview in *Gilliam, Bret C (2007). Diving Pioneers and Innovators. New World Publications. . 1923 births Living people American underwater divers Dartmouth College alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Underwater photographers Emmy Award winners Underwater filmmakers United States Navy personnel of World War II {{US-photographer-stub

Career

See also

References

External links