Enchanted Realities: The Photography of Merry Moor Winnett explores the life and work of Merry Moor Winnett (1951-1994), a graduate of the University of South Florida, who, upon relocating to North Carolina, taught at Guilford College, Salem College and the Sawtooth Center. As both a friend and a fellow photographer, author Cherl Harrison researched for nine years, her work culminating in a biography with details about the influences of family, popular culture, literature and feminism. Studying Merry’s letters and images revealed a wealth of new information detailing her methods and purposes. Merry seamlessly wove her diverse interests into complex images, employing alternative processing techniques in photographs that were stitched, collaged, composited, toned, hand-painted and sometimes sculpted. Each image was meticulously handmade, showing surface qualities that were not only beautiful but mystifying. References are made to other experimental photographers from the era of the invention of photography in 1839 with artists such as Oscar Rejlander and Lewis Carroll to modern times with examples such as Bea Nettles, Evon Streetman, Jerry Uelsmann, Clarence Laughlin and Arnold Doren. Chapters dedicated to her primary subjects include the moon, landscape, botany, still life and the human figure.
Although Merry obtained international recognition, the shortness of her life prevented a wider audience. She received numerous accolades and awards including seventy jurors’ selections for exhibitions in twenty-eight states and ten foreign countries. Merry’s works are found in the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Reynolds Collection, Southeast Museum of Photography, Asheville Museum of Art, Chrysler Museum of Art and other collections.