Loving II

Loving II, the sequel to Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love, 1850s – 1950s, is a stunning collection of vintage vernacular photographs of romantic male couples. Drawn from the Nini-Treadwell Collection of over 4000 photos, some as much as 175 years old, the selection conveys the unadulterated joy – longed for by all of us and recognizable to anyone – of being in love. 

Starting from the earliest years of photography and continuing through the 1950s, this collection comprises daguerreotypes, silver gelatins, tintypes, ambrotypes, snap shots, and many more – a cross section of a century of photographic technique. The subjects come from all walks of life: soldiers, farmers, students, the young and the old, the poor and the affluent.

These photographs were taken when being recognized as gay was to risk retribution, ridicule, banishment, imprisonment, and possibly death. They remained locked away during their subjects’ lifetimes for their very survival. The journeys that eventually brought them to the attention of Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell are mostly unknown, with only a few exceptions. Discovered in a variety of ways, sometimes tucked away in antique shops and flea markets, they had slipped into the cracks of photographic history before being added to the Nini-Treadwell Collection one at a time, over a 25-year period.

These courageous couples, from so long ago, who took and protected these photos, could not have imagined that one day their mementos of love would appear in a book that has been embraced all over the world. So much so that a second volume was necessary.

These couples sent a message to the future. The question now is, what message will we send?