Arms Up, from Infinite Grace, 2006, © Carolyn DeMeritt

I was introduced to Carolyn DeMeritt’s work by Pinky/MM Bass. I looked at her websiteand was intrigued by her projects, especially Traveling South, Mexico, Embodiment, and Infinite Grace. I began following her on Instagram and looked forward to her posts. The book, entwined, DeMeritt co-authored with Bass inspired me to look more closely at collaboration between photographers. It takes trust to hand your work over to another artist for intervention. It takes trust to bare yourself for another photographer’s lens. Although Carolyn and I have never met, I see her compassionate spirit through her work. In the collaboration, I sense the edification two women provide to each other as artists and friends.

entwined, © Carolyn DeMeritt, Pinky/MM Bass

entwined is based on Carolyn DeMeritt’s ongoing 35-year project, Infinite Grace: An Extended Portrait of Pinky/MM Bass and Bass’s hand-stitched “interventions” on DeMeritt’s photographs.

In her essay, included in the book, Art Historian Dr. Susan Richmond writes: “Over the years, DeMeritt’s camera has neither sensationalized nor sentimentalized Bass and her aging process. Instead, the women’s collaborative work reveals the complex and complicated nature of femaleidentity as it forms over a lifetime of experiences.” Elements of this combined body of work were exhibited in 2019 at La Hydra in Mexico City and Whitespace Gallery in Atlanta, in 2020-2024 at the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC, and in 2022 at Wiregrass Museum of Art, Dothan, Alabama.

Designed by Susan Walker and printed in Amsterdam in 2021 by NPN Drukkers, entwined is
sized 8 x 7 inches with lay-flat Swiss binding, a fold-out text section, and exposed Coptic stitching. The cover is printed on heavy black stock with silver ink with foil stamping. This editioned book has 120 pages and 64 plates with several special features. The book includes 2 essays, one by Dr. Susan Richmond, Associate Professor of Art History at Georgia State University and the other by Douglas Baulos, Associate Professor of Drawing and Book Arts at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Patrick Saleeby, former Assistant Director of the Light Factory, Charlotte, NC.

entwined, © Carolyn DeMeritt, Pinky/MM Bass

A native of Charlotte, NC, self-taught photographer and videographer Carolyn DeMeritt concentrates on creating portraits of people or places that are underrepresented or undergoing dramatic change.

She’s received grants and fellowships (NEA, Z Smith Reynolds, North Carolina Arts Council, Appalshop, Charlotte Arts and Science Council, Bank of America) and participated in numerous solo and invitational exhibitions across the country and internationally. Her work is included in museum, corporate, and private collections, including the North Carolina Museum of Art; Mint Museum of Art; Ogden Museum of Southern Art; Tweed Museum of Art; New Mexico State University, and the Bank of America Corporate collection.

Throughout the years, while focusing on the development of her own visual messages and
photographic techniques, DeMeritt often collaborated with other artists to bring awareness to groups of people who reside in the shadows, but whose strength and perseverance deserve to be celebrated. One of these projects was an Emmy-nominated video of an AIDS activist’s death entitled Just As I Am, which she filmed and produced with the late Stuart Grasberg, an award-winning public television producer. Another was the book As Long As The Waters Flow: Native Americans In The South and East, a collaboration with noted author Frye Gaillard that documented conditions in many Native American communities and tribes at the end of the last century. entwined, her collaborative book with her longtime friend and photo subject Pinky/MM Bass and designer Susan Walker, was published in 2021.

Follow on Instagram: @cdemerittphotography/

Aura, 2018, © Carolyn DeMeritt

I believe, as most artists do, that I’m driven to create, often without a clear understanding of why or what the work is “about” until after the fact. The surprises keep me going. I’m always seeking answers to unasked questions and my artwork is an attempt to engage others in this conversation. In the end, the work is the statement. It must stand or fall on its own.

Infinite Grace: An Extended Portrait of Pinky/MM Bass

Pinky Bass is, first and foremost, my friend. I met the Alabama artist over 35 years ago, and throughout our long-distance friendship, she has inspired me with her work and with her unyielding strength. In some ways, Pinky is easy to photograph; she loves being seen through someone else’s lens, and when the opportunity arises, she’s a fearless subject. In other ways, she’s impossible to photograph; how could I capture her complexity and convey the losses she’s endured? While reaching the twilight of life means losses are inevitable, hers have been especially cruel. In many of my photographs of her, there is certainly a sense of world-weariness that has taken its toll, and every crease on her face is well-earned. However, Pinky’s singular fierceness of spirit always shines through. I’ve watched her age with infinite grace, and this extended portrait is a celebration of her inspiring perseverance.

Body Folds, 2018, © Carolyn DeMeritt

KB: Carolyn, you said you are always seeking answers to unasked questions. In the end, when the work becomes a statement, have you found and answered the questions? Or do you feel that each body of work continues to respond to the same elusive puzzle?

CD I’m seeking an answer to your asked question! It’s hard to explain. It has to do with feeling I’m often the last to know what my work is about until I’m well into it. I work intuitively, not conceptually, and just sort of back into my series after photographing people or things I find interesting enough to keep going with. Ultimately the work reveals both the questions I wasn’t aware I was concerned with and the answers.

Birmingham Portrait, 2001, © Carolyn DeMeritt

Broken Mirror, 2019, © Carolyn DeMeritt

The Pinky Ball, 2001, © Carolyn DeMeritt

KB: The portraits in Infinite Grace convey a mixture of loss and mirth. We see beyond the pose to the person, as if Pinky is considering her own unspoken questions while you are photographing her. There is a sense of piercing rumination and then, in The Pinky Ball, we see a mischievous smile.

You mention the challenge of conveying Pinky’s losses through a photograph. In the face of this solemn task, I imagine you experience some grief together and that it can be difficult. Yet the photographs convey a see-sawing between sorrow and laughter as you sift rice flour onto your friend’s head and have her slather on clay slip. How much is playfulness or spontaneity a part of your practice?

CD: I’m happy you see that mixture in the portraits.

I work intuitively and spontaneity often happens during our sessions.  Even in situations such as photographing Sisters, Fran and Pinky, where I was extremely conscious of treading carefully and honoring their trust in me to take photographs during a difficult family period, the shoot was playful and fun. The Pinky Ball, Half-hair, Wedding Dress, and Nature’s Veil all came from that Fairhope trip to Pinky’s in 2001.

Sisters, 2001, © Carolyn DeMeritt

Half Hair, 2001, © Carolyn DeMeritt

KB: You and Pinky have collaborated for 35 years on this project. Is it complete or ongoing?

CD:  Ongoing and will continue until one of us is no longer ongoing!

KB: What are some of the challenges and gifts of working on a project for so long with a dear friend?

CD: The most frustrating challenge is my geographic distance from Pinky (a good 10+ hours by car). The other frustrating challenge is my sorry lighting equipment and my endless struggle with anything other than natural light – something I can’t always use when photographing Pinky nude. Sometimes privacy is necessary!

The gifts are numerous but these three stand out:

-The development of our friendship over the years which has strengthened our collaboration and led to our joint exhibition in 2019 at La Hydra in Mexico City and in 2021, our book, entwined.

-My introduction to amazing Mexico, particularly Oaxaca, where I spent 2 weeks participating in Pinky’s Mexico Project in 1993. Since that first trip, I’ve been back to Mexico 6 or 7 times.

-Experiencing Camp Pinky get-togethers, in Mexico, Santa Fe, Florida, Burnsville, Charlotte and Fairhope with Pinky, Doug Baulos and occasionally other friends. During Camp, I’ve explored new photo ideas such as my Undefeated Series with broken dolls, which I began shooting in Pinky’s attic/bunkroom space, experimented with new materials, learned new skills such as paper and bookmaking, and especially enjoyed having 24/7 photo access to Pinky and Doug, my two favorite subjects. Being self-taught, I think of Camp Pinky as my Grad School!

Wedding Dress, 2001, © Carolyn DeMeritt

KB: It sounds like a wonderful experience. You have described Pinky as a fearless subject. I think you might be described as a fearless photographer. As a self-taught artist, what has most shaped you or inspired you?

CD: Life in general has shaped me.  I grew up in the gothic South, with a mom, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-aunt, all of whom were constantly sewing, quilting, hooking rugs, lacemaking, knitting, and crocheting.  Even as a small child, I was encouraged to participate. These women never considered themselves artists though they were.

As I got older, I made pottery, tried painting and drawing, and purchased my first camera as an aid to those efforts. To learn to use that camera, I took a photo class not realizing it was a darkroom class. Once I discovered film processing and darkroom printing, that was it for me – I was hooked!

I think all the events and people in my life, as well as all the various projects I’ve worked on continued to shape me. Working with Pinky on Infinite Grace, entwined, and our other joint exhibitions continue to nourish our friendship, inspire me with her joyfulness, learn to embrace the happy accident, and stimulate me with new ideas and ways of seeing and being in this world.

Diva, 2001, © Carolyn DeMeritt

Hair, 1993, © Carolyn DeMeritt

Scoliosis, 2006, © Carolyn DeMeritt

Square Arms, 2018, © Carolyn DeMeritt

Tired, 2017, © Carolyn DeMeritt

Wrapped, 2019, © Carolyn DeMeritt

Karen Bullock is a photographer living in Alabama. She is known for her documentary-style images of the American South, with a focus on expressions of faith, considerations of home, and the enduring spirit of nature. Her practice uses vivid color and light to explore the unheard voice, via gesture, sense of place, and mood. During a three-month cross-country road trip with her husband and their two dogs in 2023, Karen began a new project and is working to complete it.

Follow on Instagram: @karenbpix