Mike Disfarmer
Ed and Mamie Barger

Ed and Mamie Barger
Ed and Mamie Barger
Ed and Mamie Barger
ArtistAmerican, 1884–1959
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Ed and Mamie Barger
  • from the series The Heber Springs Portraits
Date1939–1946
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 9 15/16 × 6 3/4 in. (25.2 × 17.1 cm)
Sheet: 13 7/8 × 10 15/16 in. (35.2 × 27.8 cm)
Credit LineThe Sonia and Kaye Marvins Portrait Collection, museum purchase funded by Sonia and Kaye Marvins
Object number86.126
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Special Collections
Object Type
Description

A man of mystery even to his neighbors
in the small Arkansas town of Heber Springs, Mike Disfarmer passed away in
complete anonymity in
1959.
What
he left behind was a rich visual archive of a decade in American history which
few others can rival. Discovered and brought to light in
1973, Disfarmer's
portraits describe a close-knit, virtually isolated community of working-class
people whose lives, like everyone else's, had been interrupted by separations
and losses inflicted by the war. Among his photographs are pictures of sons
called to serve their country, made to be
placed on homesteads' mantelpieces as
reminders. There are pictures of the soldiers' parents, made to be sent as a
comfort while their sons fought on the front lines. Then, too, there are homely
images of girls in their Sunday best and of boys uncomfortably outfitted in
starched collars. All came to pose for the dispassionate, insular town
photographer, whose austere studio (illuminated by cool northern light) and
anachronistic glass plate negatives must have seemed curious even then.




Provenance[Michael H. Marvins, Houston]; purchased by MFAH, 1986.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
verso top center in pencil " Disfarme "

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Family Group: Norris and Fanny Massey, with Roland, Pearly Ann, and Naomi
Mike Disfarmer
1940s, printed later
Gelatin silver print
91.544
Untitled
Mike Disfarmer
c. 1940
Gelatin silver print
91.545
Mr. Bullard and Unidentified
Mike Disfarmer
c. 1940
Gelatin silver print
2018.559
Curry, Willard and Theo Verser
Mike Disfarmer
1940–1945
Gelatin silver print
2018.557
Earl Newman
Mike Disfarmer
c. 1936
Gelatin silver print
2018.558
Oliver Murphree
Mike Disfarmer
c. 1936
Gelatin silver print
2018.562
Lois, Floyd, June and Dorothy Townsel
Mike Disfarmer
1940–1945
Gelatin silver print
2018.560
[Woman with Baby]
Mike Disfarmer
1945–1950
Gelatin silver print
2018.561
Dean Cranford and Son
Mike Disfarmer
1940s, printed later
Gelatin silver print
91.542
Mother with Four Girls
Mike Disfarmer
1940s, printed later
Gelatin silver print
91.543
Untitled (Driving with Confederate Flag)
Mike Mauney
1965, printed c. 1965
Gelatin silver print
2021.289