Mike Disfarmer

• Name — Mike Disfarmer • Birth Name — Mike Meyer • Born — 1884 • Birthplace — Indiana • Died — 1959 • Place of death — Heber Springs, Arkansas • Known for — portraiture in rural Arkansas • Occupation — photographer • Years Active — 1915-1959

Born Mike Meyer in Indiana to German American parents, he moved with his family to Arkansas in 1892. He later moved to the town of Heber Springs, Arkansas at the age of thirty, where roughly a decade later he would build and operate his photography studio. Meyer changed his name to Disfarmer while in his 50s, claiming that he was adopted by the Meyers (Disfarmer is a direct reference to Meyer, an archaic German term for farmer). Disfarmer never married, and he lived alone in the photography studio until his death in 1959. While there is speculation that he was eccentric and even insane, so little is known about his personal life that there is no evidence for these assertions other than his photographs. Disfarmer remained a lifelong bachelor who liked "ice cream, his fiddle, the occasional beer," renouncing his relatives, and dying intestate in 1959 at age 75 in Heber Springs "in obscurity." his grave placed on the National Register of Historic Places. His estate included thousands of negatives, and assets over $18,000 that was divided among his siblings and their heirs. The numerous negatives were subsequently sold to a former mayor of Heber Springs, who in turn sold the negatives for a nominal sum to Peter Miller, a newspaper editor and lawyer.

Disfarmer opened a photographic studio in Haber Springs around 1915. His photographs were simple, postcard-sized glass plate negatives, costing only 50 cents for three photographs. Subjects were instructed to face the camera directly and not smile. His subjects are the small-town residents of Heber Springs as well as tourists, photographed without props, typically against a plain backdrop. Disfarmer produced a consistent stream of portraits that captured the essence of a particular community and time.

Mike Disfarmer was recorded at birth as Mike Meyer. The authorities additionally record the headings Michael Meyer, Michael Disfarmer and Mike Meyer Disfarmer. His recorded language was English.