Tift Merritt is sure to be traveling a lot this year, touring behind her brand new album, Another Country. To keep the creative juices flowing on the road, she has taken up a new hobby – photography.

“I became interested because I’m a fan. I think the same as songs can create a world or tell a story, photography can too,” says Merritt, who nabbed a Grammy nomination for best country album for Tambourine.

“I need something creative to do on the road, but I need it to not be about myself. It’s really important to get outside of yourself when you’re going to a Tift show every night, so it was really wonderful for me to wander around and take photos,” she says. “I think it’s really important to speak without words sometimes. I will get words stuck in my head to the point where I can’t sleep, so this was a great way for me to get outside of that. I’m a great admirer of visual art and visual artists — and I’m jealous that I can’t do it myself. So this is the one way, because I have no eye-hand to paper coordination. I’ve figured out how to do it with a camera.”

Armed with a 35 mm Canon and a Holga, Merritt is focusing her talent on capturing the moments on her life. Indeed, she has surrounded herself with beautiful surroundings lately – she vacationed in Paris after her last tour, then recorded the new album in Los Angeles. A native of North Carolina, she now lives in New York City. Clearly, she’s hard to pin down, and that elusive trait is evident in her pictures as well.

“If the photograph turns out well like I hoped it would, there’s a feeling of feeling invisible that is really nice,” she says. “That’s what that person looks like, this is what they gave me and I just kind of got out of their way and caught it to show it to somebody else.”

See photos by Tift Merritt.