Gregg Dailey Kemp

Published 11:32 am Thursday, February 11, 2016

Gregg Dailey Kemp Gregg died in his home in Durham on Feb. 7, 2016 with family and friends by his side.

He was born on July 4, 1947 in High Point to Emily B. Kemp and the late Dr. Ramey F. Kemp. He grew up in Mocksville and graduated from Davie High School in 1965. He attended Virginia Commonwealth University, graduating in 1974, and later was awarded graduate degrees from Florida State University and the University of NC at Chapel Hill. He studied Serbo-Croatian at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center as part of his service in the US Air Force. Although he was a working visual artist throughout his adult life, he also held professional positions, first in libraries, and then as an instructional designer and applications programmer at SAS Institute in Cary. His artistic endeavors were varied. But it was photography, especially pinhole photography, which became his life passion. In his own words: “I became totally hooked on the endless possibilities for the design and construction of cameras and the variations in photographs these cameras could produce.” He never found an end to the possibilities. His photographs were exhibited nationally and internationally. Several are included in permanent collections. An extensive portfolio of his work can be viewed on his web site, greggkemp.com. He was a founding member of Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day, an international event held annually on the last Sunday of April. His other contributions to the pinhole community included conducting pinhole photography workshops and the creation of the Pinhole Visions website. During his struggle with cancer, his courage and fortitude were an inspiration.

Survivors: his wife, Carmela D. Kemp; his mother, Emily Betts Kemp; his brother, Ramey F. Kemp Jr. and wife Julie Hill Kemp; and his nieces and nephews.

There will be a celebration of his life at the Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall on Saturday, March 12 at 10 a.m. Light refreshments will follow.

Memorials: Patient Access Network Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to assisting the chronically ill with out-of-pocket costs: panfoundation.org.