John Ernest Williamson (8 December 1881 – 15 July 1966) was an English filmmaker who invented the "photosphere" from which he filmed and photographed undersea. He is credited as being the first person to take an underwater photograph from a submarine.

Biography

He was born in

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a port city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population of (in ), Liverpool is the administrative, c ...

1881 to Charles Williamson, a sea captain from

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

. Charles had invented a deep-sea tube, made of concentric iron rings, "which stretched like an accordion". The tube was used for underwater repair and for ship salvage. In 1912 Williamson, while working as a reporter, used the device to make underwater photographs in Norfolk Harbor. He then expanded the photosphere, which he named ''Jules Verne'', and used it to create motion pictures, starting first in the Bahamas. Williamson created a film company, the Submarine Film Corporation. Their first feature film came out in 1914 and was entitled "Thirty Leagues Under the Sea" starring Williamson in a fight with a shark. The Submarine Film Corporation would also partner with other companies such as

Thanhouser Company The Thanhouser Company (later the Thanhouser Film Corporation) was one of the first motion picture studios, founded in 1909 by Edwin Thanhouser, his wife Gertrude Thanhouser, Gertrude and his brother-in-law Lloyd Lonergan. It operated in New Yo ...

. J. Ernest Williamson and his brother George M. Williamson would shoot and develop the film using their photosphere which was then finalized and distributed by others.

Partial filmography

* ''Thirty Leagues Under the Sea'' (1914) * ''

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' () is a science fiction adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne. It is considered a Classic book, classic within its genres and world literature. It was originally Serial (literature), serialis ...

'' (1916) * ''The Submarine Eye'' (1917) * '' Wet Gold'' (1921) * ''Wonders of the Sea'' (1922) * '' The Uninvited Guest'' (1924) * '' The Mysterious Island'' (1929) * ''With Williamson Beneath the Sea'' (1932)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, John Ernest 1881 births 1966 deaths Film people from Liverpool Photographers from Liverpool Underwater photographers English filmmakers