An exhibition that celebrates the faces of Bermuda opens this evening at the Ace Gallery.

Celebrating Bermuda Faces is a commemorative exhibition that celebrates the Bermuda Archives? 30th Anniversary.

It features the portraits of N.E. Lusher and John Weatherill. Nicholas Ethelburt Lusher and John Weatherill are Bermuda?s best-known portrait photographers.

N.E. Lusher, who was active at the end of the nineteenth century, and Mr. Weatherill, who was active at the end of the twentieth, both photographed ordinary Bermudians ? individuals whose lives might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

?Through their lens the two photographers created a record of the spirit of the Island, at a particular time, and place in its history,? said curator Karla M. Hayward, Government archivist. ?Mr. Lusher?s arrival on the Island in 1882 coincided with the birth of Bermuda?s modern tourism, whose image he did much to shape in the ensuing years.

?Similarly, John Weatherill did much to mould the Island?s tourist image following his appointment as photographic director at the Bermuda News Bureau, in the late 1950s.?

Ms Hayward said ironically both men will be will be remembered for their photographic portraits. ?Lusher for his Victorian era studio portraits that reveal dignified and respectful images of middle class citizens; and Weatherill for his intimate and moody chronicles of subjects he chose himself.

?Weatherill?s status and recognition in the field of portrait photography rests on the publication of the two volumes of ?Faces of Bermuda?, one in 1985 and the other in 1991, which are widely known and celebrated.

?For these books, he purposively photographed several hundred Bermudians in the 1980s and 90s, self-consciously capturing not so much a way of life as of being ? a way that he thought was vanishing.?

The eighteen original Weatherill prints featured in this exhibition are selected from the ?Faces? books, said Ms Hayward, and are exhibited for the first time following their generous donation to the Archives by Mrs. Nancy Weatherill.

She said: ?N.E. Lusher captured not so much a vanishing era as an emerging one, largely as an unintended result of his commercial activities.

?His reputation as a portrait photographer in fact came quite late and is owed largely to the pioneering work of former archivist, Helen Rowe and her father, Clifford.

?Following the discovery of the glass plate negatives and their donation to the Archives by the Crisson family, Clifford Rowe printed and enlarged them and Helen exhibited them for the first time at the Bermuda Society of Arts in 1979.

?Through that exhibition, Lusher?s portraits gained wide public exposure and appreciation.?

Ms Hayward said the twenty images featured in this exhibition are selected from among Clifford Rowe?s prints, which have not been exhibited in over twenty five years.

An ACE executive said it was delighted to host this captivating exhibition of Bermudian portraits.

?It is an honour to be able to share in the Bermuda Archives? 30th anniversary commemorations and play a small role in making these remarkable works available for the enjoyment of the Bermuda community,? said the executive.

The show, hosted by the ACE Gallery in the ACE Global Headquarters, opens this this evening and runs until May 27.

@EDITRULE:

The ACE Gallery is open to the public Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. The ACE Gallery, ACE Global Headquarters, 17 Woodbourne Avenue, Hamilton. For more information ( 295 5200.