The Karl Struss (1886-1981) visits to Bermuda in 1912, 1913 and 1914 were important to his development as a photographer. In June 1912, he reported to the famous photographer and modern art enthusiast, Alfred Stieglitz, that “Bermuda was the most beautiful, charming and quaint place” he had ever visited.He added: “And as for colour there is nothing like it anywhere in Europe. I hope to go again sometime and will not forget to take along a few autochromes.”The autochrome was, at that time, the latest development in colour photography.The following quote is taken from the 1995 book on Struss ‘New York to Hollywood: The Photography of Karl Struss'.“Although he had visited Europe, from southern Italy to Germany, and Nova Scotia, it was in Bermuda that he first discovered the excitement and emotional quality that the vivid colours of an exotic landscape and people could bring. The brilliant tropical flowers, vivid blues of the ocean, and colourfully painted houses provided wonderful opportunities to experiment with colour compositions.”Again quoting from ‘New York to Hollywood': “All things considered, Struss must be recognised as one of the finest pictorial photographers of the early 20th century.”As a result of his trips to Bermuda, he was also able to make contact with the Bermuda Trade Development Board, resulting in his being contracted to take the photographs for the official Bermuda tourist guide for 1915-16. While on that assignment, he used a new kind of camera that used 35 mm movie film in 50-foot rolls. This allowed him the opportunity to take 750 still exposures without having to reload, however, in his excitement, he used up the entire roll within one week. He was out of film and in those days it would take several weeks for an order from New York to arrive.Discovering that a movie company was on the Island however, he was able to make use of their “short-ends”. He also met the cameraman Charles Rosher, and years later this would stand him in good stead, for, through this contact, after the First World War, he was able to move to Hollywood and became one of the most successful early cinematographers. Indeed, in 1927 Struss and Rosher, who had worked together as cinematographers on the movie ‘Sunrise', received the first ever Academy Award for cinematography.The 1914 Bermuda trip was a turning point in his career as a professional photographer. It was only after his Bermuda assignment, that he was able to leave his ordinary day job and work full-time as a photographer. Although the Bermuda experience was important, what with the war and then his moving to California, some 40 years would pass before he was able to return.As to the year that this took place, that is uncertain. However, judging from the cars and other elements such as people's dress, that appear in the photographs he took at that trip, my estimate is that his visit must have been in the latter part of the 1950s.Currently, the Ace Gallery and surrounding corridors at Ace Reinsurance is exhibiting a selection of 47 photographs from Karl Struss's 1950s' visit. There are, altogether, 47 photographs in the show. The exhibition is open to the public on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 11am to 2 pm. The exhibition has been made possible by the generosity of Ian Macdonald-Smith, who owns the original photographs. The exhibition continues until the end of September.All the photographs in this exhibition are in a square format. That is unusual as most photographs are composed in a rectangular framework, however, since I have a preference for the square, I was immediately drawn to the exhibition. Still, after a close viewing,I narrowed my preference even further to the quarry series in the East corridor. These recall the analytical cubist painting by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso. That is not to say that the other photographs are of lesser quality. That is my preference. Others will have their own special favourites. It is an exhibition that I recommend seeing.