Several years ago I stumbled upon an amazing book of photographs taken by Mike Disfarmer who lived and worked in Heber Springs, Arkansas from the the mid 1910’s to 1959. For a mere 25 cents you could have your picture taken in front of a benign screen and without much direction from the photographer. Disfarmer captured the celebrations and every day lives of local townspeople and tourists who took the train up to Heber Springs to escape the hot summer days. He used a 4×6 size format and always shot in black and white. And while he was reclusive and mysterious in his own right, the images he produced are haunting, mesmerizing and more complicated than they first appear. They are raw with emotion and called out for a narrative to explain these lives so vividly captured. I chose to create stories for each without the benefit of knowing the individuals; I created carpets with patterns I’ve designed to tell their manufactured stories. Each is surrounded in gold leaf to honor the lives so well and quietly lived.
art and process 