Abstract: The application of optical methods to mechanics of composite materials is discussed. By giving full play to the advantages of each optical method, the displacements, strains and stresses in composite structure are measured accurately. The paper consists of four parts: 1. Combining the shearing speckle interferometry with holographic interferometry to measure the displacements and slopes of a laminated plate under bending; 2. Using shadow moire method to study the buckling of a carbon-fiber-reinforced plate; 3. photo-orthotropic-elastic stress analysis; 4. investigating the stress state and singularity around inclusions by caustic method. The results of the experiments show that the optical methods in experimental mechanics are effective for some problems of composite structure and several new optical methods or new applications proposed are suitable for the purpose.