The Williamson brothers—Ernest and George Williamson—have, by the use of the Williamson extensible and flexible collapsible tube, invented by their father, Capt. Charles Williamson, and fitted with an observation chamber, succeeded in taking some wonderful moving pictures of under-sea life, which have been shown throughout the world and have thus given pleasure to millions of people in this country and abroad. I am indebted to the Williamson brothers for the loan of some of their wonderful under-sea pictures taken in the vicinity of Nassau, in the West Indies, where the waters are particularly clear, and the under-sea floral gardens, noted for their beauty, have been visited by tourists for many years, who view them through the glass-bottom boats. This method discloses some of their beauty, but does not begin to do them full justice, as compared with a view from under the water in their natural perspective. When viewed from above it is much like judging of the beauties of architecture of a city from a balloon, as one can only get a plan view.
The Williamson brothers commenced their experiments in submarine photography during the summer of 1913. Their first experiments proving satisfactory, the following year, 1914, they fitted out an expedition and visited the West Indies and there took several thousand feet of films of submarine motion pictures, showing some of the submarine gardens, divers fighting with sharks, an old wreck, etc. These were the first moving pictures of under-sea life that had ever been produced. "Still" under-water photography had been done by Dr. Francis Ward in a pond on his estate in England and by several others, but none of these experimenters had ever succeeded in getting the wonderful results such as those secured by the Williamsons in their 1914 expedition.
A SUBMARINE GARDEN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
Submarine Photo by Williamson Bros.
This photograph, taken in the vicinity of Nassau, shows a great variety of tropical submarine growth and fishes.
Since 1914 the Williamsons have produced many remarkable submarine scenes in the film productions known as "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," "The Submarine Eye," and other photoplays.
SUBMARINES FOR HYDROGRAPHIC WORK AND WRECK FINDING
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