From 1961 to 1964, Anderson studied at the Germain School of Photography in New York City. He also studied with Alexey Brodovitch and Richard Avedon. During this time, Anderson worked as an assistant to still life and fashion photographers and as an assistant film editor. From 1965 to 1968, Anderson was a cinematographer for the United States Army at the Army Pictorial Center in Vietnam. From 1969 to 1973, he worked as an assistant motion picture cameraman, and from 1974 to the present Anderson has worked photographing commercials and documentaries as well as photographing architecture.