John Ernest Williamson (8 December 1881 – 15 July 1966) was an English filmmaker who invented the "photosphere" from which he filmed and photographed undersea.

[5] Charles had invented a deep-sea tube, made of concentric iron rings, "which stretched like an accordion".

In 1912 Williamson, while working as a reporter, used the device to make underwater photographs in Norfolk Harbor.

[3] He then expanded the photosphere, which he named Jules Verne, and used it to create motion pictures, starting first in the Bahamas.

[7] Their first feature film came out in 1914 and was entitled "Thirty Leagues Under the Sea" starring Williamson in a fight with a shark.