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Disfarmer Photographs Exhibited at UA Fort Smith
(Posted: September 6, 2005) (Printable Version)
“Disfarmer Photographs: Heber Springs circa 1945,” a traveling exhibition from the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, is on exhibit at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith through October.
Mike Disfarmer (1884-1959) photographed everyday life in Heber Springs from its glory days as a spa in the 1910s and 1920s through the Depression and World War II years. After Disfarmer’s death in 1959, the studio he built was abandoned. Some of his glass-plate negatives from the 1930s and 1940s were rediscovered and salvaged in the mid 1970s, just before the studio was demolished. Since then, his compelling portraits have formed the basis for two books and several regional and national exhibitions.
Stacey Jones, associate vice chancellor of campus and community events, said he has already heard good comments about the exhibit.
“Black-and-white photos are always striking,” Jones said, “and the ones in this exhibit capture a period of time in an Arkansas city in a way that nothing else could have done. I think people who lived through the 1930s and 1940s can’t help but see a bit of themselves when they view this group of photographs.”
Owen Edwards of “American Photographer” had high praise for Disfarmer in 1982:
“Like it or not,” Edwards was quoted, “one of the wonders of the medium is the alarming power of photographs to take a life of their own, to leap far beyond mundane purposes or to scuttle the most grandiose intentions. I doubt there has ever been a better personification of this unpredictable and exhilarating power — in America, at least — than Mike Disfarmer.”
Sponsored locally by UA Fort Smith, the exhibit is one of 15 traveling exhibits available through the Arts Centers State Services Department.
Exhibit hours are 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Fridays. The exhibit is located on the west end of the first floor of the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center and encompasses wall space outside the Reynolds Room. For more information, call 788-7300.
| Article by: Sondra LaMar, Director of Public Relations |
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