Doreen Merritt

Photographer Doreen Merritt had a passion for photography at an early age. She studied photography in school and started doing black and white photography as a teenager. She learned to develop her own film and would print those images in a dark room. She loved the feeling of seeing an image come to life in just a few swishes. She then went on to do color film and digital photography.

Doreen truly enjoys being outdoors and was lucky enough to grow up on the beaches of the Jersey Shore. She has an affinity for sunrises, sunsets and beach landscapes during all four seasons. It wasn’t until about 10 years ago that she started incorporating her lifelong collection of sea glass into her shots. She loved the way the colors of sea glass would pop against the coastal scenery. The stacking of sea glass shown in some of her works invokes a zen-like feeling. She loves capturing pieces of nature along with these treasures from the sea.

Doreen attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and received a degree in Natural Resource Management and Environmental Education. She was lucky to live in many beach towns in both North Carolina and Florida, but coastal New Jersey is still where she calls home.  She currently resides there with her husband and three children. In 2016, Doreen started Follow Me 2 The Sea Photography and she is also the owner of Coastal Art Co-Op, a storefront gallery that showcases not only her art, but other local artists as well.