American Navy veteran, Arthur Miller who was stationed at the Holy Loch for part of his career, is to have one of his pieces displayed at the US Embassy in Burkina Faso.
His work will be displayed in the official residence of United States Ambassador, Sandra E Clark.
75-year old Arthur has his time working in Scotland as a commercial photographer to thank for a lifetime passion.
As a young 18-year-old United States Naval Photographer at the U.S Naval Photographic Centre in Washington DC, Arthur was assigned to USS Hunley in the Holy Loch between 1964 and 1966.
He said: “I was one of four Naval photographers doing PR stuff like officers’ parties, but much of the work was top secret on the new Polaris submarines, microfilming their ships’ logs and photographing the atomic reactors and missiles on board the subs.”
One of his first assignments involved using a 4×5 speed graphic camera to photograph the birthplace of John Paul Jones, a native Scot, and a Revolutionary War U.S. Naval commander, dubbed the ‘Father of the American Navy’.
Miller received a Navy commendation for his John Paul Jones work, which was exhibited at the U.S Naval Museum in Washington, D.C.
While his time in Sandbank was short, Arthur had strong family ties with the area. He told this newspaper: “My sister in law Bell Whyte, now deceased lived in Sandbank on Cromlech Road, as did her Father Jock Whyte who worked at Robertsons Boat Yard on both the Sceptre and the Sovereign.”
Since returning to the States, he has built a career in the photography industry which has seen him start a photography department at a County Community College. These were the first accredited college photography courses ever taught in Wyoming Valley.
The artwork that has been selected by the curator of the U.S. Department of State, Art in Embassies program is described as “a semi-impressionistic view of Frances Slocum State Park, Luzerne County, PA, titled ‘Ducks In A Row’.
