Saturday, November 13, 2004 Brett Seymour is the underwater photographer and production coordinator for the NPS Submerged Resources Center (SRC) based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His primary role within SRC is to document underwater field projects and work with media partners to communicate NPS stewardship of underwater sites to the public.

Imaging Arizona

Throughout our daily updates, Matt Russell and Dave Conlin have done an excellent job of explaining the science of UT, pH, E_Corr, FEM, mung and all the other “scien-terrific” daily events. My primary role is to put images with the science. In the past 10 years with the SRC, this responsibility has never been more challenging, or more rewarding, than working on USS Arizona. 

I have had to opportunity to dive on Arizona more than any other site in my career. Sometimes I tend the ROV into hatches and portholes, sometimes I’m a body to hold probes, but I rarely get wet without a camera. No matter what the purpose of the dive, I find myself continually focused on one goal. How can I share this aspect of USS Arizona with the public through images? Sometimes it’s documenting two divers, three probes and a drill with four feet of visibility. Other times it’s capturing an onlooking public from Arizona below. In either case it’s always been an honor, and it’s always been a challenge.

A view of the Arizona Memorial from the ship. Note the oil streaking the water. Photo by Brett Seymour, NPS.

This challenge has been with us all week with our mosaic efforts. One of our project objectives was to investigate if an accurate photo mosaic could be generated on Arizona. We were all too familiar with the mosaic obstacles on the site from working with National Geographic in 2000 to create a video-generated mosaic. Although this mosaic had visual appeal and ran in the June 2001 National Geographic, it lacked the resolution and control necessary to be an effective tool for management. Arizona’s massive blast damage, high vertical relief and shallow depths have constantly kept our methodology fluid. We are still crunching the images (1,135 shot to date) and working toward producing a detailed, high resolution image suitable for GIS and interpretive needs.

Not all images are part of our project objectives. Imaging Arizona has taught me sometimes, however rare, astonishing visuals are reveled -- the trick is you have to be prepared to capture them.

Looking up into the Memorial's viewing well. Photo by Brett Seymour, NPS.

I have had to opportunity to work with several talented and well-known underwater photographers associated with our projects over the years. All have been extremely generous with their time and expertise. One common similarity among them is that they specialize in “making photographs.” Most spend hours underwater with more camera equipment than the SRC’s yearly budget attempting to create a photograph. During a project on Arizona several years ago a magazine photographer worked with one assistant, seven Navy divers, four NPS divers, two surface-supplied lights and eight underwater cameras to create a single image. This is not the photographic world I work in. Over the years, I have come to believe that one of the quickest way to irritate an underwater archeologist is to stick a camera in his or her face or frantically flail underwater and with gestures that mean “do that a couple more times so I can shoot it again. And again.” If I can get the last 500psi of a dive or even, dare I say, an entire dive dedicated to photographic setups, the project is a complete success in my eyes. Working in this environment, out numbered by five archeologists, has forced me to be as unobtrusive as possible. Therefore the concept of “making a photograph” is somewhat foreign to me. Although the primary function of my work is documentary in nature, every so often a scene unfolds before my lens that I strive to capture and share with the public. The perfect blend of visibility, lighting, lens and quite honestly, luck.  

While working on the mosaic last week under not-so-perfect lighting conditions I noticed heavy rain on the surface above me. I stuck my head out of the water I witnessed one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. The glistening white Memorial and the water pounding the waters of Pearl Harbor created a stirring visual image. I abandoned the mosaic and began firing my camera attempting to capture the moment. I believe I was successful, and although the image already appeared in a daily update, I thought it warranted a second look and a bit of a back-story. No entourage of assistance, hours of preparation, or annoyed archeologist could have made this image more beautiful.

Photo by Brett Seymour, NPS.