Dear Members of the National Association of Naval Photography (NANP), As my term as president comes to an end, I want to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to all of you. Thank you for placing your trust in me over the years. It has been an incredible honor to serve this organization in various capacities—first as Second Vice President, then Vice President, and most recently as your President for the past three years. Looking back, I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together. One of the most significant achievements during my presidency was the development and ratification of new bylaws in 2022. This was a collaborative effort, led by Lifetime Director Tim Timmerman, that required patience, compromise, and […]
Message from 2022/2023 NANP President – Wes Gibson
NANP Members, Shipmates, and Friends of Naval Photography, When I joined the Navy in 1980, I had no idea that I would become an instructor at the US Naval Schools of Photography. The very school I joined the Navy to attend. Nor did I ever imagine making Chief Petty Officer and completing a 20-year career as a Navy Photographer. So, the concept of becoming President of the National Association of Naval Photography 42 years later was beyond imagination. Yet, here I am. I lived the journey, but it’s still hard to comprehend. I am honored and appreciative for the opportunity to serve as President of our Association over the next two years. I want to thank our departing President, Sammy […]
Farewell Message from Sammy Solt
Shipmates, The sun has finally set on my tenure as President of the NANP. It has been one of the most rewarding positions I have ever held. It kept me in close contact with the many friends I have made over the years. I joined the Navy in 1961, and through my travels have met many wonderful people and created many precious memories. I have served with and made lifetime friends with many of you and was able to cultivate new and lasting relationships with many that I met after my retirement. These are relationships that I will cherish forever. Over the past two years, I was blessed with a Board of Directors (BOD) whose primary focus was keeping the […]
2021 Reunion An Overwhelming Success
Everyone, All I can say is the folks that attended the reunion in Pensacola had a great time. The weekend was wonderful including the two Blue Angel Air Shows we were able to see from our hospitality suite balcony. NAS was closed for the air show and the Blues flew their show on the beach, incidentally the Blue Angels 75th Anniversary party was in an adjoining suite and our shared balcony was center stage. Absolutely awesome! Since returning home many accolades about the event have been received. It was an absolute success. My personal thanks go out to some very key people that worked together as a team to ensure it ran smoothly: Jim Russel, our man on the ground […]
Easter Message from the President
Shipmates, Members and Friends of Naval Photography, As we enter the Easter and Passover holidays, I would like to take time to wish everyone peace during this very blessed Holy season. It looks like we are getting past this Covid nightmare. By the time the reunion rolls around I expect everyone should have had all of their shots and hopefully ready to travel. As everyone knows this is the 100th year of the Navy Photographer. Time to celebrate this notable milestone and our service to the US NAVY! 100 years of our work, some of which I imagine will be on display. We are fortunate to have Jim Russell’s boots on the ground in Pensacola, he has outdone himself by scoring another […]
A Holiday Message from our President
All, On behalf of Wes Gibson, myself and the Board of the National Association of Naval Photography we would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Happy Kwanzaa. 2020 was a very hard year for a lot of us. Some of us have lost family members and friends to Covid, endured some personal and possibly some financial hardships but hopefully the New Year will bring some changes for the good. No matter what your political persuasion is, now is the time to bring America back together again. I would like to see us go back to being the country I was raised in. At my age I have no idea how much longer I will be […]
Message From 2020/2021 NANP President – Sammy Solt
NANP Members, Shipmates and Friends of Naval Photography, As we move forward with the NANP into the new decade I appreciate the opportunity to serve as the President of our fine organization for the next two years (2020/2021). I would like to thank our outgoing President, Nora, for the time and effort she has put into our organization for the past two years (2018/2019). She did an outstanding job and will be an asset to our Executive Board. We also welcome Jerry Billings as our new Database Manager and Steven Van Der Werff as our Membership Chairman. Both have many years of experience and will be absolute assets to our organization as we move forward with organizing the NANP database […]