fb pixcode

PHOTOGRAPHER MONOGRAPHS

PUBLISHER
Neuberger Museum of Art

BOOK FORMAT
Hardcover, 9 x 12 in. / 192 pgs / 192 color.

PUBLISHING STATUS
Pub Date
Out of print

DISTRIBUTION
D.A.P. Exclusive
Catalog: FALL 2014 p. 32   

PRODUCT DETAILS
ISBN 9780979562983 TRADE
List Price: $60.00 CDN $70.00

AVAILABILITY
Not available

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE

Purchase, NY
Neuberger Museum of Art, 11/09/14-03/08/15

DOWNLOAD THE SPRING 2023 CATALOG

Artbook | D.A.P. Catalog Cover Link
Preview our Spring 2023 catalog, featuring more than 500 new books on art, photography, design, architecture, film, music and visual culture.
  

NEUBERGER MUSEUM OF ART

Becoming Disfarmer

Edited with text by Chelsea Spengemann. Text by Gil Blank, Tanya Sheehan.

Becoming DisfarmerBecoming Disfarmer uses a compelling sequence of over 100 images to tell the story of Mike Disfarmer's vernacular portraiture and its transformation into art. This monograph features his vintage prints along with a selection of enlargements made from his negatives in the 1970s, through which his work first became known. Disfarmer's postcard-size vintage photographs are reproduced in full color to accurately convey their varied surfaces, and most of the examples are shown in the condition in which they were found, rather than as restored images. This publication also reproduces the backs of selected vintage photographs and provides transcriptions of all handwritten notes that appear on the objects. In addition, the monograph contains high-quality reproductions of newspaper pages in which Disfarmer's images appeared, locally produced historical journals that include images by other photographers who worked at the same time and in the same region as Disfarmer and album pages like those for which Disfarmer's photographs were originally made. These fascinating additions to the scholarship were collected as primary research by the editor over a three-year period and provide historical context for Disfarmer's portraits. Complete with three scholarly essays, a bibliography and exhibition history, this monograph qualifies as the most comprehensive Disfarmer publication to date.
Mike Disfarmer (1884–1959) was born Michael Meyer in Indiana, and began working as a photographer in Heber Springs, Arkansas in 1914. In addition to selling portraits made in his studio, he processed film, sold postcards and worked for hire. He was considered a mythical figure in his own lifetime for changing his surname to Disfarmer in 1939 and claiming to have originated from a tornado. His portraits--commonly considered as honest depictions of a rural population made by an eccentric outsider--have been compared with the work of masters such as August Sander and Irving Penn.

Unidentified photograph by Michael Disfarmer, ca. 1939-1946, is reproduced from Becoming Disfarmer.

PRAISE AND REVIEWS

TIME Lightbox

Phil Bicker

A disgruntled farmer who reinvented himself as a portrait photographer in dust-bowl era Arkansas, Mike Disfarmer's work remained unseen for decades, and is explored beyond the scope of vernacular photography and reconsidered as fine art.

Becoming Disfarmer

STATUS: Out of print | 00/00/00

For assistance locating a copy, please see our list of recommended out of print specialists

FORTHCOMING AND RECENT PHOTOGRAPHY BOOKS

Peter Hujar Curated by Elton John

PETER HUJAR CURATED BY ELTON JOHN

FRAENKEL GALLERY

ISBN: 9781881337232
USD $65.00
| CAN $90 UK £ 57

Pub Date: 11/29/2022
Active | In stock


Jamel Shabazz: Albums

JAMEL SHABAZZ: ALBUMS

STEIDL/THE GORDON PARKS FOUNDATION

ISBN: 9783969990957
USD $50.00
| CAN $70

Pub Date: 3/14/2023
Active | In stock


Tina Modotti

TINA MODOTTI

LA FáBRICA

ISBN: 9788418934322
USD $20.00
| CAN $27

Pub Date: 10/18/2022
Active | In stock


Dior by Sarah Moon

DIOR BY SARAH MOON

DELPIRE & CO

ISBN: 9791095821571
USD $150.00
| CAN $210 UK £ 130

Pub Date: 1/24/2023
Active | In stock


Edward Burtynsky: African Studies

EDWARD BURTYNSKY: AFRICAN STUDIES

STEIDL

ISBN: 9783969991459
USD $95.00
| CAN $134

Pub Date: 4/4/2023
Active | In stock


Tod Papageorge: Dr. Blankman’s New York

TOD PAPAGEORGE: DR. BLANKMAN’S NEW YORK

STEIDL

ISBN: 9783969990629
USD $50.00
| CAN $70

Pub Date: 6/27/2023
Forthcoming


Tod Papageorge: Passing through Eden

TOD PAPAGEORGE: PASSING THROUGH EDEN

STEIDL

ISBN: 9783969990636
USD $55.00
| CAN $76

Pub Date: 6/27/2023
Forthcoming


Michael Kenna: Trees

MICHAEL KENNA: TREES

SKIRA PARIS

ISBN: 9782370741943
USD $45.00
| CAN $62

Pub Date: 1/10/2023
Active | In stock


Zoe Leonard: Available Light

ZOE LEONARD: AVAILABLE LIGHT

DANCING FOXES PRESS/RIDINGHOUSE

ISBN: 9781954947047
USD $34.00
| CAN $47 UK £ 30

Pub Date: 12/20/2022
Active | Out of stock


Ann Mandelbaum: Matter

ANN MANDELBAUM: MATTER

HATJE CANTZ

ISBN: 9783775753241
USD $70.00
| CAN $97

Pub Date: 1/24/2023
Active | In stock


Sebastian Cramer: Two Views

SEBASTIAN CRAMER: TWO VIEWS

HATJE CANTZ

ISBN: 9783775753821
USD $70.00
| CAN $97

Pub Date: 1/3/2023
Active | In stock


Michael Wesely: The Camera Was Present 2010–2020

MICHAEL WESELY: THE CAMERA WAS PRESENT 2010–2020

STEIDL/GALERIE FAHNEMANN, BERLIN

ISBN: 9783958298651
USD $45.00
| CAN $62

Pub Date: 7/5/2022
Active | In stock