Polymers containing one or more of a photostabilizing moiety attached to the polymer backbone, sunscreen compositions including a mixture of a photoactive compound and a polymer containing one or more of a photostabilizing moiety attached to the polymer backbone are described herein. Also disclosed are methods for stabilizing a sunscreen composition and methods of filtering out ultra-violet light from a substrate by the addition of one or more of the foregoing polymers, and methods of waterproofing and forming a film with one or more of the foregoing polymer are described herein.