When American photographer Karl Struss visited Bermuda in 1914 he loved the Island so much he ran out of film before his first week here was up.

He wrote: "...probably the most beautiful, charming and quaint place I have ever visited, and as for colour – there is nothing like it in Europe."

In those days, camera supplies and equipment had to be shipped in.

Not wanting to wait until the next boat came from New York, Mr. Struss borrowed some scrap ends of moving picture film (video camera film of the day).

The results of his work can be seen today in 'We are Sailing' an exhibit currently on at the Masterworks Museum for Bermuda Art at the Botanical Gardens.

The exhibit uses the work of many artists, local and foreign, famous and not-so-famous, to show the progress of sailing in Bermuda, and its importance to our history and heritage.

"Using this movie camera film, Struss took a great series, and tons of photographs of Bermuda," said Masterworks collections manager Elise Outerbridge. "They do typify Bermuda. In his photography he really captured the clothes and the costumes of the time period," said Mrs. Outerbridge. "You can see why Hollywood would attract him. There is a glamour aspect to his work."

Mr. Struss was on the Island to take photographs for the 1915-1916 official guidebook, 'Bermuda: Nature's Fairyland', for the Bermuda Trade Development Board.

He borrowed his film from cameraman Charles Rosher who was then new to the business. It led to Mr. Struss's later association with the film industry. In 1929, Mr. Struss was co-cameraman in the movie 'Sunrise' and jointly won the first-ever Oscar ever awarded for cinematography with Mr. Rosher.

Mr. Struss' resourcefulness characterises the whole exhibit, not just in the artwork, but in the construction of the exhibit.

An unfurled sail is used as a movie screen. An old binnacle compass found decaying next to a boatslip has been rigged to show a slideshow of excerpts from Bermuda sail diaries.

And there are some surprises in the show. Another photographer on show is Harry St. George Butterfield (1883-1965), the grandfather of Masterworks founder and director Tom Butterfield.

'Gramps' as he was affectionately known to his grandchildren, was one of Bermuda's elder statesmen.

He was mayor of Hamilton, Chairman of the Board of Agriculture, and founded Butterfield & Co. the insurance and commission company, among other things.

One of his passions was photography.

"I found his old photographic plates in the attic some years ago," said Mr. Butterfield. "By blowing them up you had a literal look at Bermuda in yesteryear."

Many of Mr. Butterfield's pictures in the exhibition, taken around 1910, feature boats, ships, and children.

In one picture a group of girls dressed in white cluster together to watch a passing boat. Another little girl stands back as though excluded.

"He loved children," said Tom Butterfield. "I don't really know where he learned photography. That is what intrigues me."

Tom Butterfield said he felt as though developing the pictures into archival prints had brought him closer to his grandfather.

"He had a very sensitive eye," said Mr. Butterfield. "He had a natural ability for making a good composition. His pictures are very strong."

Mr. Butterfield died when Tom Butterfield was 15-years-old.

"Finding these plates increased my interest in him," said Tom Butterfield. "He must have been quite a guy. He left school at the age of 15 or 16.

"He went on to do a lot of things in life. Photography was not his only interest. There would have been a lot of chemistry used to develop these photographs. Making your own negatives and prints is really making a statement.

"Unfortunately, I was really too young to benefit from his wisdom and smarts."

Mrs. Outerbridge said that Harry Butterfield's pictures were on par with Mr. Struss's work.

"It really is," said Mrs. Outerbridge. "And that is quite a compliment. Struss was a well-respected, top-notch New York photographer."

Photography is just one aspect to the 'We are Sailing' exhibit.

One of the pieces in 'We are Sailing' is a 1797 painting of Flatts inlet by British painter George Tobin.

"This is one of the oldest known landscapes of the Island," said Mr. Butterfield. "For New World material, this is a pretty scarce item. The picture shows that there was some boat building that went on at that time in Flatts.

"George Tobin was also on the HMS Bounty, which makes it interesting. He gave a much kinder version of Captain William Bligh than the movie, 'Mutiny on the Bounty' did."

On April 28, 1789, led by Masters Mate Fletcher Christian, 12 crewmembers staged the now famous mutiny, capturing the ship, and setting Captain Bligh and his supporters adrift in the ship's launch. Captain Bligh is frequently depicted as abusive, although several books recently have tried to dispel this idea.

Some other works in the exhibit are Winslow Homer's 'SS Trinidad' (1901) and Prosper Senat's 'Pilot Boats St. Georges' (1910) are also included. Some more modern works by Bermudians are Bruce Stuart's 'Darrell's Slip' (1991), and Otto Trott's 'Look' (2009).

There are also a number of ship models in the exhibit, such as one hand-carved by Captain Magnus Musson (1917-1991), the last captain of the Queen of Bermuda.

"Every time I look at the model I see another detail that I didn't see before," said Mr. Butterfield. "For example, there is a ship's bell, and the lifeboat goes up and down through a pulley system."

Mr. Musson also has a painting in the show.

"It is hard to believe that he was an untrained artist," said Mr. Butterfield. "He was really very talented."

Mr. Butterfield said so far, the exhibit has been very well-received, one of the reasons they are extending it to December.

"We get people who come in and spend two or three hours looking at this show," said Mr. Butterfield.

"I have never seen anything like it."

For more information about the Masterworks go to their website at www.bermudamasterworks.com/ or telephone 236-2950 or e-mail: mworks@logic.bm.