I just received an email from Steven Kasher Gallery about a screening of a new documentary that focuses on a play on the life of photographer Mike Disfarmer - as told through puppets. In watching the trailer for the film, I started to learn a few things, one being that puppetry is undergoing a Renaissance especially in New York and that there is some controversy surrounding the acceptance of this disputed "art form" into the larger art community. I am familiar with photography's struggle for a voice in this forum, but apparently puppet masters are hitting this same wall. I will hold my opinions aside here, as they are just that, and let you judge based on whatever merits you chose to let influence your opinions on puppetry as art. In the meantime, enjoy some of the videos from the production Dan Hurlin's staged performance Disfarmer and an excerpt from the documentary Puppet by David Soll.
Click here for a list of books on Mike Disfarmer including The Vintage Prints, Original Disfarmer Photographs, Disfarmer and Heber Spings Portraits.