WorkBoat sat down with Austin Leathers, a freelance photographer and deep-sea diver, to better understand his take on the commercial diving industry through his work.

“I ended up joining the Navy as a welder diver, an all-technician diver, so that’s how my journey started.  I became a commercial diver for the Navy and the Department of Defense in 2015,” said Leathers.  

Alongside his passion for diving, Leathers had a true interest in filmmaking, particularly black and white. He currently dives for Shoreline Diving, out of New London, Conn. That work covers a number of different projects in waters all over New England.

WB: What initiated your passion for subsea photography?

AL: I just enjoy documenting the daily life of diving and the people I’ve worked with. Nobody’s really documenting divers like this, so feel that I need to do it. I have family, friends and coworkers saying ‘You have to continue taking these pictures, it’s such a unique viewpoint and position that you have.’

When you dive every day it becomes ordinary. To me it’s nothing new, but it is such a unique position to be a photographer and a diver at the same time. That’s my spin on it, in order to provide the most accurate representation of what it’s truly like to be a commercial diver, I think you need to be one. 

WB: What’s your process? What’s it like shooting images 70’ below the surface?

AL: I have a theme that it’s not about one specific person. I’m trying to portray what it’s like working at that depth. I’ll dive on different jobs and think, ‘Wow, this would be a cool shot’, or we’ll be working on a different type of job and I think, ‘This is interesting, nobody’s probably ever heard of this.’

The current camera I’m using is just a crop sensor. It’s not a crazy expensive camera. But it has a really good autofocus. I use a wide-angle lens. You’re really shooting at 20 to 21 millimeters or less. And it’s up close and personal to the divers.

Water quality comes into play. We’re in New England, it’s not Fiji. That visibility affects the images a lot. At first, you’re frustrated because it isn’t clear, but at the end of the day, you’re telling a story that’s more accurate. That’s what it’s really like in the water. A lot of times there’s zero visibility, all you feel is your hand and an object in the water, so a lot of my pictures are really close because of the water quality. I’m almost touching people’s faces with the camera lens. And black and white is kind of my thing, I’m not really into color photography. 

Down there, it’s also extremely calming. It can be dangerous, but when you are in the water for so many hours or most of your life it becomes second nature. Yes, there are always accidents that are going to happen, but for the most part it’s very peaceful.

WB: What is it about people in this industry that you want to capture? What are some future projects that you’re working on?

AL: I want to continue documenting hardhat divers. Plus, there are so many people that work in and around the water. Nobody’s documenting these guys. We get different contracts all of the time. We’re working with the Northstar boats that are doing all of this windfarm work. But you get to meet the crew and see all of these deckhands and captains.

We’re working with pile drivers, so these floating barge and crane guys. And it’s all interesting stuff! So much so that I think somebody needs to document pile drivers on the water. 

Here’s an example of an interesting character. There’s a guy named Josh, he lives on a sailboat and he dumped all of his money into buying a crane and a floating barge just trying to make it happen. And it just so happens that he’s got one leg.

I mean, think about it, where does your marina come from? Who builds it? Divers, welders, tugboat crew, captains. These are all super interesting people with their own stories. 

A lot of these people are standoffish to outsiders, so it’s good to be in the industry, to know them. Knowing that I’m a commercial diver, they’re a lot more comfortable when you’re photographing them.

WB: How can people support your work?

AL: I sell prints on my website. I started doing old salt prints and having silver gelatin prints made. So, I’m taking modern technology, doing digital photography, and then using techniques from the 1800s, like the beginning of photography to print my work. So I’m switching back and forth between past and modern. 

I would really love to have a show or a gallery where people would come in and see all the commercial diving and maritime industry photos that I’ve taken over the years.

Another way to support my work is through my Instagram.