Barry Brown lives and works on the Caribbean island of Curacao with his wife, Aimee, and their two dogs. In 2004 Aimee received word that a job as a dolphin trainer was available. They decided living on a Caribbean island might be pretty cool (it was the Caribbean – not much to think about). So, they quickly sold their house and cars, left their jobs and friends and moved to a desert island 30 miles off the coast of Venezuela. Barry is currently working for "Substation Curacao," taking underwater photos of a 2.5 million dollar manned-submersible and photographing new finds discovered by visiting scientists.
A week before leaving for Curacao (back in 2004), Barry bought his first Ikelite housing, to fit his (then) Nikon D100. Over the years, and thousands of dives later, he moved up through the ranks of D200, D90s, D300, D300s and is currently using the Nikon D800 camera in Ikelite housing, with two DS160 strobes, as well as a multitude of lenses and ports.
Transitioning to underwater photography was fairly natural for Barry -- although he had only logged 35 dives when he arrived in Curacao -- as he’d done a lot of nature photography back in the States. Thinking back to his first night dive, he states: “I remember it like it was yesterday; we were so scared but completely hooked! It was so easy to get professional quality photos – all thanks to my Ikelite housing and DS125 strobes. It was as easy as point and shoot! I love having a see-thru housing for night diving. It allows me to enjoy my dive without wondering if my housing is leaking.” Thanks to Curacao’s year-round warm temperatures and crystal clear water, Barry is able to spend a lot of time diving – whether taking photos, testing products, or just having a good time.
Outside of photography, Barry is one of the top commercial paleontologists in the States and continues to collect new fossils every year. His fossils are on display all over the world, and can be seen locally at the Denver Museum of Natural History in Colorado. Barry is also an ex-mountain bike racer who recently went to Tucson to help test mountain bikes for Outside Magazine. Upon moving to Curacao, and recognizing that it was lacking in single-track trails, Barry made it his mission to begin building hiking and biking trails throughout the desert areas. Thanks to his efforts, participants of the 2006 World Cup Mountain Bike Race, which was held in Curacao, raced on the very trails he’d made. Barry also trains elite local youth in mountain biking, and was proud to see his athletes win the recent Caribbean Championships in mountain biking.
Barry's work is regularly seen in Sport Diver, Scuba Diver, and Ranger Rick magazines. His deep sea images are on display at the Smithsonian Institution.
Awards + Achievements
- Winner - 2014 NANPA Photo Contest (North American Nature Photographers Association) for his "Blue-Light photo of corals at night"
- Sport Diver Magazine Cover
- Ranger Rick Magazine Cover
- Multiple Smithsonian Institution deep-water specimens published, on-site and in National Geographic
