“Disfarmer” examines the life of a portrait photographer through the use of puppetry, as well as a photography exhibit curated by the director Dan Hurlin. The story is inspired by the over forty-year career (1915-1959) of portrait photographer Mike Disfarmer, who for decades shunned his family and neighbors while operating the only portrait studio for miles around Heber Springs, Arkansas (Google map). During his career, Disfarmer built a special dark room for his portrait sessions and when his negatives surfaced in the 1970s, his portraits were recognized as “a work of artistic genius” and “a classical episode in the history of American photography.”

Steven Kasher Gallery is loaning images for the show is displayed in the St. Ann’s Warehouse lobby. The photographer is represented by a series of puppets, each smaller than the last, until he disappears. Disfamer “seeks to create a visceral sense of the photographer’s interior and exterior worlds, illuminating the contradictions in the life of this American hermit whose intimate and revealing portraiture documented an entire community.” Live music is played during the show by a band that plays banjo, accordions, and the fiddle.

Disfarmer is running from January 27 to February 8 at St. Ann’s Warehouse.

St. Ann’s Warehouse
38 Water Street, Dumbo Brooklyn, NY
718-254-8779 or 866-811-4111
{stannswarehouse.org}