Disfarmer: Heber Springs Portraits, 1939-1946; From the Collections of Peter Miller and Julia Scully
by Mike Disfarmer, Julia Scully
Category: Photography

In Heber Springs, a reclusive photographer known simply as Disfarmer created an uncanny record of American rural life during the 1930s and 1940s. Working out of his modest studio, Disfarmer created portraits which are direct and unpretentious. Disfarmer's portraits of cotton farmers, tradesmen, soldiers home on leave, and the extended families that made up this rural community, reveal a common bond that is rapidly disappearing in the United States. They are bold portraits, and sometimes confrontational, yet they show his sitter's humble grace and small-town charm. Handed down through generations and found today in the family albums of this community, Disfarmer's portraits are emblematic of the post-Depression era. These photographs, many unpublished or rarely seen, underscore his uniquely American vision of place.