The Disfarmer Story
The eccentric photographer known as Disfarmer (1884-1959) seemed to be a man determined to shroud himself in mystery. Born Mike Meyers, the sixth of seven children in a German immigrant family, Disfarmer rejected the Arkansas farming world and the family in which he was raised.
He even claimed at one point in his life that a tornado had lifted him up from places unknown and deposited him into the Meyers family.
Not a "Farmer"
In time Mike expressed his discontent with his family and farming by changing his name to Disfarmer. In modern German "meier" means dairy farmer, and since he thought of himself as neither a "Meyer" nor a "farmer," Mike Meyer became "dis"- farmer.
Perhaps, it was his desire to break free of his Arkansas roots that led him to photography. He taught himself how to shoot and develop photographs, and he soon set up a studio on the back porch of his mother's house in Heber Springs, Arkansas.
After the Storm
In the 1930s a tornado swept through the Heber Springs valley destroying the Meyer home and forcing his mother to move in with a relative. Shortly thereafter, Disfarmer built a studio on Main Street and became a full-time photographer. Using commercially available glass plates, Disfarmer photographed his subjects in direct north light creating a unique and compelling intimacy. He was so obsessed with obtaining the correct lighting that his lighting adjustments for a sitting were said to take sometimes more than an hour.
Disfarmer's reclusive personality and his belief in his own unique superiority as a photographer and as a human being made him somewhat of an oddity to others. Having your picture taken at Disfarmer's studio became one of the main attractions of a trip into town.
Someday My Prints Will Come - The Disfarmer Discovery
After Disfarmer's death in 1959, retired Army engineer Joe Albright bought the Disfarmer studio, including its contents, from estate executors. As he and his sons picked through the abandoned studio, they found thousands of dollars hidden away in film plate boxes. The true bonanza, however, was the discovery of more than 3,000 glass plate negatives. Having an interest in photography, Albright carefully stored the negatives in his basement hoping one day to "do something with them."
In 1974, professional photographer Peter Miller and his wife moved to Heber Springs to publish a weekly newspaper, The Arkansas Sun. When The Sun ran a new main page feature, "Some Day My Prints Will Come," featuring old family photographs submitted by readers, Albright submitted some of Disfarmer's work.
Recognizing the unique artistry of the Disfarmer photographs, Miller purchased the collection of negatives from Albright, published the portraits for a year in The Sun, and forwarded copies to Julia Scully, editor of 'Modern Photography' magazine. From her initial viewing of the photographs, Scully recognized the unique qualities of the photographs and since then has worked to bring Disfarmer's portraits into public view.
The Heber Springs Portraits
Scully worked with Miller and the Addison House to publish the first book of Disfarmer's work, Disfarmer, the Heber Springs Portraits 1939-1946. Reviewers embraced the work as "... one of the most significant bodies of work in the history of portraiture."
Disfarmer's unique portraits are included in the permanent collections of the New York Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Arkansas Arts Center Museum and the International Center of Photography in New York City. Disfarmer's work has also been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout Europe and the United States.
Nothing speaks more eloquently about Disfarmer's artistry than the photographs themselves. His genius was the ability to capture without judgment, the essence of a people and a time.
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