Discourse on Disfarmer

Mike Disfarmer was, in a word, an enigma. For more than 40 years, his Heber Springs, Ark., studio, a study in technical simplicity, stood as a testament to the effort and importance he felt his profession, indeed his art, deserved.

Disfarmer was a man who, for most of his life, was surrounded by people bound by familial bonds; yet, he chose to be a recluse. He seldom socialized; he did not attend any of the numerous churches in Heber Springs and “openly admitted he didn’t believe in the Bible” — though religion was an integral part of the community. He, according to Disfarmer: 1939 – 1946, The Heber Springs Portraits, became a “boogey man” of sorts to many of the children in Heber Springs.

By all accounts, information gained from the research and essays in three books containing his work, Disfarmer was a simple man. His studio was sparsely furnished, and he lived on the premises. He dressed daily in a simple white shirt and dark pants. Disfarmer was private and somewhat withdrawn from society … his only real and continual contact with others was through his profession (his studio was open seven days a week).  He died in 1959 without fanfare; he was 75.

The contents of Disfarmer’s studio were purchased from a local bank for $5 by the late Joe Allbright in 1961. Several years later, Allbright sold 10 to 15 boxes of glass plates negatives found in the purchase to then-editor of the Arkansas Sun Peter Miller. According to Julia Scully in her 1995 essay in the book Disfarmer: 1939 – 1946, The Heber Springs Portraits, Miller, now a prominent Little Rock attorney, published several of Disfarmer’s photographs in the newspaper and sent six or so of the photographs to Scully who was editor of Modern Photography.

Recognizing the artistry of the photographs, Scully contacted Miller, and the two began a research and restoration project that would take the field of photography by storm. Disfarmer’s photographs have been “exhibited in galleries across the United States and Europe,” including the Netherlands and Florence, Italy. To date, three books have been published celebrating the work of his man who claimed to have been a product of a tornado. Disfarmer’s eccentricity — at the age of 55 he legally changed his name from Mike Meyer to Mike Disfarmer — simply adds to his mystery.


Discussing Disfarmer (books published about Mike Disfarmer): Disfarmer: 1939 – 1946, The Heber Springs Portraits, Twin Palms Publishers, New Mexico; Disfarmer: The Vintage Prints, powerHouse Books, New York; Original Disfarmer Photographs, Steven Kasher Gallery and Steidl Publishers, Germany. For more information about Disfarmer, log onto disfarmer.com.