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tablet-grid-100"> <main id="main" class="site-main"> <div id="gallery-modal"> <b onclick=triggerModal()>+</b> <div class="gallery-modal-info"> <span>Gallery Of</span> <p class="gallery-modal-title">Vernon Merritt</p> <section> <p class="gallery-modal-description"></p> <i>Portrait of Vernon Merritt. (Photo by Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)</i> <br> </section> <button onclick=toggleInfo(this)>SEE DETAILS<q></q></button> </div> <div data-bg="https://static.life.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/18171816/00828242-e1571419351775-696x1024.jpg" class="gallery-modal-image rocket-lazyload" style=""> <button onclick=clickLeft() class="gallery-left-arrow"></button> <button onclick=clickRight() class="gallery-right-arrow"></button> </div> <div class="gallery-modal-carousel"> <div data-bg="https://static.life.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/18171816/00828242-e1571419351775-696x1024.jpg" class='carouselImage carousel-selected rocket-lazyload' onclick=swapImage(this) style='' data-position='0' data-title='' data-caption='Portrait of Vernon Merritt. (Photo by Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)' data-description='Asset ID: 828242. ' data-url='https://static.life.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/18171816/00828242-e1571419351775-696x1024.jpg'></div><div data-bg="https://static.life.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/18172019/1221804-e1571419327368.jpg" class='carouselImage rocket-lazyload' onclick=swapImage(this) style='' data-position='1' data-title='' data-caption='Photographer Vernon Merritt at work on an Apache Indian reservation. (Photo by Vernon Merritt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)' data-description='Asset ID: 1221804. ' data-url='https://static.life.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/18172019/1221804-e1571419327368.jpg'></div><div data-bg="https://static.life.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/18172154/Merritt_B_IC-e1571419313886-1024x1017.jpg" class='carouselImage rocket-lazyload' onclick=swapImage(this) style='' data-position='2' data-title='' data-caption='Model walking on the street in "New York" fashion. (Photo by Vernon Merritt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)' data-description='Asset ID: 13051345. ' data-url='https://static.life.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/18172154/Merritt_B_IC-e1571419313886-1024x1017.jpg'></div> </div> </div> <article id="post-5354340" class="post-5354340 photographer type-photographer status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry" itemtype="https://schema.org/CreativeWork" itemscope> <div class="inside-article">  <header class="entry-header"> <img src=https://static.life.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/18173021/00821189-e1571419821690.jpg> <div class="article-info"> <a href=/photographer/> <button class="red-solid">Photographer</button></a> <h1 class='entry-title' itemprop='headline'>The Photography of Vernon Merritt</h1> <button id='view-gallery-button' onclick='event.stopPropagation(); triggerModal(this)' class='white-transparent'>View Gallery</button> </div> </header> <div class="featured-image-info"> <p class="featured-image-subtitle"></p> <p class="featured-image-title">Weathered tree stump in desert near Mentone, Texas. (Photo by Vernon Merritt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)</p> </div> <div class="entry-content" itemprop="text"> <blockquote id="single-block_5da08cb99358a" class="single-image "> <section> <img decoding="async" data="block-image" data-id=5355689 desc="Asset ID: 828242. " caption="Portrait of Vernon Merritt. (Photo by Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)" title="" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%200%200'%3E%3C/svg%3E" alt="Portrait of Vernon Merritt. (Photo by Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)" data-lazy-src="https://static.life.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/18171816/00828242-e1571419351775-696x1024.jpg" /><noscript><img decoding="async" data="block-image" data-id=5355689 desc="Asset ID: 828242. " caption="Portrait of Vernon Merritt. (Photo by Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)" title="" src="https://static.life.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/18171816/00828242-e1571419351775-696x1024.jpg" alt="Portrait of Vernon Merritt. (Photo by Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)" /></noscript> <div class="image-info"> <p class="image-caption"></p> <p class="image-caption">Portrait of Vernon Merritt. (Photo by Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)</p> </div> </section> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“He was the epitome of a Southern gentleman,” said </span><a href="https://www.life.com/photographer/bill-eppridge/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bill Eppridge</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of Vernon Merritt (1940-2000). This apparently included having the courage to stand up to other Southerners. As just one example, when integration was ordered in Tuskegee, in his home state of Alabama, black students were bused to another town. Merritt got on one of the buses, and “when we got there, Sheriff Jim Clark came onboard. I had a couple of Nikons around my neck, and he snatched them off and whacked me with a cattle prod. I was shocked a few times and hit a couple of times and then thrown out on the street. I wound up in jail.” In Vietnam, he was shot by a sniper and paralyzed for months. </span><a href="https://www.life.com/photographer/co-rentmeester/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Co Rentmeester </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">was in Vietnam with him: “He was soft-spoken, but he was also a major daredevil. He was somewhat of a risk taker, which in the world of journalism and photography makes you successful.”</span></p> <p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">—</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Adapted from </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Great-LIFE-Photographers-Editors/dp/0316097934/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1EH15RRHPZHFO&keywords=the+great+life+photographers&qid=1570115481&s=gateway&sprefix=the+great+life+photogr%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Great LIFE Photographers</span></a></p> <blockquote id="double-block_5da08cce9358b" class="double-image aligncenter"> <section> <img decoding="async" data="block-image" data-id=5355693 desc="Asset ID: 1221804. " caption="Photographer Vernon Merritt at work on an Apache Indian reservation. (Photo by Vernon Merritt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)" title="" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%200%200'%3E%3C/svg%3E" alt="Photographer Vernon Merritt at work on an Apache Indian reservation. (Photo by Vernon Merritt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)" data-lazy-src="https://static.life.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/18172019/1221804-e1571419327368.jpg" /><noscript><img decoding="async" data="block-image" data-id=5355693 desc="Asset ID: 1221804. " caption="Photographer Vernon Merritt at work on an Apache Indian reservation. (Photo by Vernon Merritt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)" title="" src="https://static.life.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/18172019/1221804-e1571419327368.jpg" alt="Photographer Vernon Merritt at work on an Apache Indian reservation. (Photo by Vernon Merritt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)" /></noscript> <div class="image-info"> <p class="image-caption"></p> <p class="image-caption">Photographer Vernon Merritt at work on an Apache Indian reservation. (Photo by Vernon Merritt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)</p> </div> </section> <section> <img decoding="async" data="block-image" data-id=5355694 desc="Asset ID: 13051345. " caption="Model walking on the street in "New York" fashion. (Photo by Vernon Merritt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)" title="" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%200%200'%3E%3C/svg%3E" alt="Model walking on the street in "New York" fashion. (Photo by Vernon Merritt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)" data-lazy-src="https://static.life.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/18172154/Merritt_B_IC-e1571419313886-1024x1017.jpg" /><noscript><img decoding="async" data="block-image" data-id=5355694 desc="Asset ID: 13051345. " caption="Model walking on the street in "New York" fashion. (Photo by Vernon Merritt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)" title="" src="https://static.life.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/18172154/Merritt_B_IC-e1571419313886-1024x1017.jpg" alt="Model walking on the street in "New York" fashion. (Photo by Vernon Merritt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)" /></noscript> <div class="image-info"> <p class="image-caption"></p> <p class="image-caption">Model walking on the street in “New York” fashion. (Photo by Vernon Merritt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)</p> </div> </section> </blockquote> </div> <footer class="entry-meta"> <nav id="nav-below" class="post-navigation"> <span class="screen-reader-text">Post navigation</span> </nav> </footer> </div> </article><div class='article-card-container'> <h4>More Like This</h4> <div class='article-card'> <a href=https://www.life.com/photographer/hansel-mieth/><img width="585" height="600" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20585%20600'%3E%3C/svg%3E" class="attachment-840x600 size-840x600 wp-post-image" alt="A rhesus monkey sitting in water up to his chest. 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Kennedy playing peek-a-boo with his daughter Caroline in her crib. 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