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.