Composite materials offer a unique advantage over conventional engineering materials in that structural properties can be tailored to suit specific applications. However, the inherent anisotropy and the discrete layer-by-layer fabrication method of composite materials lead to mechanical behavior and failure characteristics that are quite different from those of homogeneous materials. Consequently, failure modes such as delamination in polymer matrix composites and matrix cracking and damage in ceramic matrix materials prohibit these materials from being used in conventional engineering structures, as well as making their characterization in the laboratory difficult. In this paper, an experimental photomechanics technique called phase-shifting moiré interferometry is described. This technique is capable of providing analysts and designers (both material and structural) with detailed displacement and strain fields near discontinuities in these materials. The technique allows high resolution measurements of in-plane surface displacements to be made without introducing global smoothing errors, thus preserving the integrity of data near cracks, discontinuities and material interfaces. In this paper, the advantages of phase-shifting moiré interferometry will be illustrated through several problems involving composite materials.