Disfarmer - The Vintage Prints @ Foam | Blog

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Disfarmer – The Vintage Prints @ Foam

March 13th, 2016 by fstop

Joe and Fanny Carr, Mose Harmon, and Bill and Julia Harlan, Vintage gelatin silver print, ca. 1930. All prints courtesy of the Edwynn Houk Gallery or the private collection of Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg.

Disfarmer – The Vintage Prints
18 March – 5 June 2016

Between 1915 and 1959, American studio photographer Mike Disfarmer (1884-1959) made portraits of the residents of Heber Springs, a small town in rural Arkansas. Only after his death did his work become known internationally and regarded as a typical example of classic American portrait photography. Foam is staging a large retrospective with 182 vintage photographs, including a number of 8×10 inch prints that have never been exhibited before.

Disfarmer’s clients were a cross-section of the population of Heber Springs: farmers in overalls and housewives dressed up for the occasion to soldiers in uniform, high-school football players and children in their Sunday best. Disfarmer’s way of working was straightforward. He positioned his models directly in front of the camera, against a simple background, and had them look right into the lens. The effect is a focus on the individual without any distraction from the surroundings or props.

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