Singer/songwriter Tift Merritt (left) talks about her photography exhibit with WRAL-TV Anchor/Reporter Bill Leslie.

Raleigh native singer/songwriter Tift Merritt stopped by WRAL-TV on Wednesday, April 29, 2009, to chat about her latest artistic endeavor on WRAL’s noon news.   WRAL-TV Anchor Bill Leslie interviewed Merritt about a collection of her photographs that will be on display in downtown Raleigh during the month of May.

“Other Countries:  Photographs by Tift Merritt” opens at The Mahler, a fine art gallery on Fayetteville Street, on Friday, May 1st.  The exhibit runs through the end of the month.

Merritt took the collection of photos while in Paris writing the music for what would become the album “Another Country.” 

WRAL-TV’s Patrick Marrow (right) helps Tift Merritt (center) get set for her interview with WRAL-TV’s Bill Leslie.

WRAL-TV Anchor David Crabtree (left) catches up with Merritt before she goes on the air.

“It isn’t my first job, but it was really a part of writing that record,” Merritt told Leslie of her photography.  She said that when writing music it’s easy to get stuck in your own head, so she took jaunts with her camera to reconnect with people.

“I didn’t plan anything,” she said of the photography exhibit.  “I didn’t even know I was making a record.  I wanted this work to not just sit under a bed somewhere.”

“Paris is a place where the fine details are appreciated,” said Merritt.  She said that connecting with the city through photographing it and its people helped her with her music.  Seeing the city’s attention to detail, she felt that spending a lot of time on even one line of her music was somehow okay.

While she’s in town Merritt will perform a solo concert at the Fletcher Opera Theater on Friday, May 1st at 8pm.