LOVING
A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s - 1950s
Our collection started 22 years ago when we came across an old photo that we thought was one of a kind. The subjects in this vintage photo were two young men, embracing and gazing at one another - clearly in love. We looked at that photo, and it seemed to look back at us. And in that singular moment, it reflected us back to ourselves. These two young men, in front of a house, were embracing and looking at one another in a way that only two people in love will do. Dating somewhere circa 1920, the young men were dressed unremarkably, the setting was suburban, and out in the open. This open expression of love that they shared also spoke to their determination. Taking such a photo, during a time when they would have been less understood than they would be today, was not without risk. We were intrigued that a photo like this could have survived into the 21st Century. Who were they? And how did their snapshot end up at an antique shop in Dallas, Texas, bundled together with a stash of otherwise ordinary vintage photos?
About a year later we came across a second photo through an online auction. It was a miniature portrait of two soldiers from the 1940s, approximately the size of a man’s thumbnail. They were posed cheek to cheek, and their photo was in a small art deco glass frame with “Yours Always” etched into the glass. They had that same unmistakeable look in their eyes as the first photo we’d collected so many months before. We thought we had now found the second, and last remaining, vintage photo of two men, like ourselves, who were in love. Thus began a twenty year journey that neither of us saw coming; much less planned.
Our annual travels to Europe, Canada, and across the US, gave us the opportunity to comb through boxes and piles of old photos at flea markets and antique shops. That, and the advances of the internet, would grow our collection to more than 2700. It is impossible to state how unexpected this is to us. Jokingly, we call our collection, “the accidental collection”. In the beginning we acquired photos because they spoke to us personally. As we came across more and more, there was a sense that we were involved in some kind of rescue mission. These photos had stood the test of time for somewhere between seventy and one-hundred-and-seventy years, and we were now the custodians for these unlikely survivors of a world that is only just now catching up to them. As the years and photos accumulated, we began to feel a sense of obligation to share them with others. That said, strangely, though we have many good friends, and loving and supportive families, we never shared this collection with anyone until fairly recently. Our reason was simple. We didn’t think anyone besides ourselves would find them interesting.
When deciding whether or not to acquire a photo or snapshot we have a rule that we follow. Sometimes the embrace leaves no doubt that the relationship exceeds friendship or fondness. But if in doubt, we look into their eyes. There is an unmistakable look that two people have when they are in love. You can’t manufacture it. And if you’re feeling it, you can’t hide it. In one instance our self-imposed guidelines were put to an unexpected, and successful, test. We had collected a few photos of two WWII soldiers, stationed in Austria, whose poses were fairly subtle. Had these photos been discovered during their lifetimes, the soldiers could have possibly, and perhaps plausibly, been able to make the case that they were just “buddies” posing together for a photo. But for anyone looking closer, they would have, as we did, seen that they had “that” look in their eyes. Weeks later we came across the crown jewel of the photo group. In 1945, these two soldiers had hiked up into the Austrian Alps and a friend had taken their picture as they embraced romantically in the snow. With that photo we have not only the unmistakable embrace and the tender look of love between them, but also validation for all of their other photos where their feelings for one another are only hinted at. This entire group of photos, collected over almost a year, numbers at about 150. They were only ever intended for the soldiers themselves and no one else; but one of them kept these snapshots hidden in a shoebox until the early 1990s when he handed them off to a relative, along with the ring that he was wearing in the Alps photo, with this request, “Please keep these safe for me.” According to the relative, the soldier, nearing the end of his life, wanted to preserve the one thing that meant more to him than anything else. He passed away two years later. The existence of his photos and ring, though, has only recently come to light publicly. Their unlikely journey into our collection, and inclusion in this book, is nothing short of miraculous.
Our collection reveals to the world, and even to us, for the first time and voluminously, that feelings of love, attachment, or longing, between two people are the same - regardless of the gender make up of the couple. Their images evoke as powerful a sense of love and humanity as has ever been filmed, or written about, or acted out on a stage. They appear in many varied contexts that repeat across time and global geography. They pose together in the bow of a boat, on a tree branch, on a bicycle, at the beach, in a forest, leaning against a car, and even in bed. From a social perspective the range is extensive as the images reflect back nineteenth-century working class figures, fashionably dressed businessmen, university students, and soldiers and sailors of all ages, spanning the time between the Civil War, the Second World War, and into the 1950s.
Patterns emerge. One unexpected recurring theme is that beginning sometime in the mid 1800s, and continuing into the late 1920s, posing under an umbrella together was a signal that the two men were engaged in a romantic relationship. When we acquired our first “umbrella” couple we only chose it because they had “that” look in their eyes. Somewhere around the fifth umbrella photo we came to understand that this was a deliberately coded message that crossed borders and time. We have about 50 “umbrella couples” now.
Set aside for a moment the umbrellas, beaches, cars, bicycles, and boats, even the embrace - it’s their gaze. Whether to the viewer, at one another, or averted, it always conveys the kind of romantic love that everyone knows about, and is singular and special. Holding one of these photos, feeling its age, and seeing how they look at one another, or back to us, their emotions are palpable even today, so many years later. Beyond their message of love, they seem to be calling out, saying; “We mattered to one another and we wanted to memorialize our feelings through a photograph. Even if only for ourselves.” Surely, these couples couldn’t have imagined a day when their secret photographic testament would become an entry in a book that celebrates them and the deep feelings of love that they had for one another. We’ve only recently begun to imagine it ourselves.
The Nini-Treadwell collection spans a century of time between the 1850s and the 1950s, and hits many notes in a rich chord. Thematically, it represents pure love. Photographically, it documents, from nearly its beginning, the first one hundred years of photo taking. One can also see the evolution of fashion, hairstyles, and societal norms as they relate to these subjects. The collection spans the entire globe from the US and Canada, to the European, South American, Asian, and Australian, continents. It is fitting that LOVING is now in the hands of a publishing house called 5 Continents Editions, out of Milan, Italy. The result is a romantic depiction of a special category of human beings, in all their diversity, that has been shown to be overwhelming for some, but certainly eye opening for all. The intensity of their expressions, the purity of their passion, the simplicity of their emotions, all serve to communicate a message as old as time, but from an unexpected, and heretofore hidden, source. ‘LOVING A Photographic History of Men in Love’ is a book that is intended to usher in a new sensibility, a fresh humanism of love that, rather than categorizing individuals, brings us all together under one, if we may, umbrella. It shines a new light on the universality of the most written about, enacted, or filmed, emotion - love. Its message is for everyone.