A six-year legal battle over Mike Disfarmer's photographic legacy has ended with his distant relatives gaining control of approximately 3,000 glass-plate negatives and the copyright to his work. The reclusive Arkansas photographer, born Mike Meyer in 1884, changed his name and cut ties with his family before dying in obscurity in 1959. His stark portraits of Depression-era farm families were later hailed as masterpieces comparable to works by Diane Arbus and Irving Penn.

Disfarmer's negatives were initially sold for just $1 to a local newspaper editor, who helped launch the photographer's posthumous fame through a 1976 book. The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation had previously held the archive after receiving it from a local commune in 1977. Vintage prints from Disfarmer's lifetime now command prices up to ten times higher than posthumous prints, with works in major collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum.

The settlement raises fundamental questions about artistic legacy when creators die without wills. While the law typically favors biological heirs, some experts question whether distant relatives best serve an artist's interests. The family's first authorized exhibition, "Disfarmer: The Homecoming," opened at the Arkansas State Capitol in February, featuring nine prints and marking a new chapter in the photographer's contested legacy.