An American artist exploring family connections to Bermuda's founding father, Admiral Sir George Somers, almost drowned while visiting Bermuda.

Eric Somers, 67, of Poughkeepsie, New York was recently on the Island for Bermuda's 400th anniversary.

While here, he held a special photo exhibition at the Bermuda Society of Arts (BSoA) at City Hall.

"On Somers Day [July 31] I went out on a trip on the glass bottom boat with local VIPs to see the site where the Sea Venture wrecked," he said.

"We were trying to find the wreckage, but we couldn't see anything. Then they asked me to come on-board the Spirit of Bermuda.

"All the dignitaries waved at me. It was a very nice day. But on my last day in Bermuda I nearly drowned in a boating accident."

He was standing on a pier and went to talk to some friends on a boat. He stepped closer, and misjudged how far the boat was from the pier.

"I wear bifocals and I don't see down very well," he said. "I fell into the water between the boat and the pier.

"I had training in deep water survival in college, because I had been thinking about going into the Navy. I pushed to get to the surface, found the boat ladder and pulled myself up."

He said it wasn't until the next day, when a friend mentioned the incident, that he suddenly realised that he'd almost drowned.

"Then delayed shock really set in," he said.

Luckily, the only damage was to his clothes which were stained blue from rubbing against the bottom of the boat during his struggle for survival.

Mr. Somers first came to Bermuda in March to do a photo shoot for an online magazine.

"The magazine wanted to feature both Bermuda's anniversary and the Hudson River's 400th anniversary [of European Henry Hudson's exploration], but unfortunately, the magazine is now defunct."

It was through a chance meeting with BSoA curator Lesley Rego, that the idea for the BSoA photo exhibition, 'Bermuda Rediscovered' — an exhibit of twenty photographs of the Island was born.

"During that week in March I took dozens of images, even though the weather was not always very cooperative and some historic sites were under repair," Mr. Somers said. "In one lovely case the repairs worked for me.

"During my stay at Aunt Nea's Inn in St. George's Parish, it happened the clock of St. Peter's Anglican Church was being restored and the restorers were also staying at Aunt Nea's.

"So when I went to the church one day and found the old clock works taken apart and laid out on a brilliant blue plastic sheet, the non-traditional picture, 'Clock of St. Peter's Church [deconstructed]' came about.

"Probably the clock has been photographed thousands of times, but not like this."

The exhibition of his photos opened July 24 and closes today, August 12.

Back in the United States, Mr. Somers is a professor at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie.

He teaches photography, sound recording and electronic media production. He also lectures twice a year about music technology at the prestigious Julliard School of Music.

Mr. Somers said he has not done any genealogy research, but his elderly uncle, John [Jack] Somers is very keen on it.

The Somers family are lately from New England.

"My father, Henry, was raised in Marion, Massachusetts on Buzzards Bay," said Mr. Somers. "My father was born in Providence, Rhode Island.

"His father, Laurence Somers, was a minister at Tabor Academy, which is quite well known."

"At some point my uncle believes we were related to Sir George Somers."

He was unable to say when his family made the move from England to the United States.

Sir George never had any known children, but he did have a brother and a nephew, Matthew.

"The brother died young, and he raised Matthew," said Mr. Somers. "Some said Matthew was secretly his son. Records for this time period are a little murky."

According to Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith, authors of 'The Shipwreck that Saved Jamestown' Matthew sailed on the Swallow from Plymouth, Devon to Jamestown, Virginia, in the same fleet as the Sea Venture.

During the violent storm that broke apart the fleet and wrecked the Sea Venture, the Swallow was damaged but managed to sail on to Jamestown.

Later, Sir George and his nephew were reunited.

The two sailed back to Bermuda on the Patience to gather up more supplies for Jamestown. But unfortunately, Sir George died on this second visit to Bermuda.

On his deathbed he beseeched Matthew to continue with the plan to take supplies back to Jamestown. After his uncle died, Matthew removed Sir George's heart and entrails and buried them in Bermuda.

It is said that he secretly placed Sir George's body in a casket of whiskey and stashed him in the hold.

Against Sir George's dying wish, Patience sailed back to England.

Matthew later said it was due to homesickness, but some said it was due to an eagerness to collect his inheritance as Sir George's heir.

Eric Somers grew up hearing stories about the exploits of his possible ancestor, Sir George.

"Growing up, we always had the Somers coat of arms in the house," he said. "We always talked about him even though we didn't have the proof he was our relation. I read everything about him."

But Mr. Somers said over the years he'd spent more time exploring his mother's roots in Scandinavia.

"It was interesting to come to Bermuda," he said. "On the March trip, there were a lot of things I was taking in — the colours, the forms."

Almost all of his pictures were taken in the Town of St. George, except for two that were taken in Dockyard.

"I realised again when I came back for the show opening, that there is nothing that quite replaces that first impression.

"Bermuda was quite different than I expected. I thought it would be more British than it was. "But that's alright, because I think the food and music are better because of the cultural mix. My next thing is to go to Lyme Regis in Dorset, England."

Sir George was born in the town of Lyme Regis in 1554, and was also mayor there. It is twinned with St. George in Bermuda. Sir George was buried with honours in the village of Whitchurch Canonicorum, Dorset.

Mr. Somers started his career as a fine arts television producer for network television.

"It's a job that no longer exists," he said. "They don't run fine arts on public television anymore.

"But doing that job, I always had to be concerned with sound and image. I studied photography and cinematography. I always had one foot in the sound pond and one in the photo pond."

He said as a result, the relation between picture and sound has always intrigued him.

Mr. Somers said he had once considered a career in the Navy, but it had nothing to do with his possible seagoing heritage.

"I was first going to go into the Air Force," he said. "It was the era of the Vietnam War. But, at the time, they wouldn't accept anyone who wore glasses.

"I thought the Navy was based outside of more glamorous places than airbases. I applied and they said it was unlikely they would take me at the time. Fortunately, I didn't get drafted."

Mr. Somers is working on his own book 'Whispered Images and Photography and the Aesthetic of Wabi Sabi'.

His exhibition at the BSoA closes today, but the images can still be seen on his website at www.sandbookstudio.com.