"They love each other" comes out of the closet 100 years of homosexual love affairs

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Photograph, undated, from the book They love each other.

-

• They love each other

  , co-published in France by Les Arènes and 5 Continents, was published on Wednesday October 14, 2020.

• This beautiful book brings together 350 photographs of male couples, taken between 1850 and 1950, from the collection of Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell.

• “It is about a universal feeling, love.

  It brings another look.

  It is also historical testimony, over a hundred years, showing that having a portrait taken was an important act, ”

  Régis Schlagden Chauden

  explains to

  20 Minutes,

  who signs the introduction to the book.

The some three hundred pages of

 offer a plunge into a hundred years of love stories combined with the masculine plural.

This beautiful book event, published simultaneously this Wednesday in the United States and in Europe (co-published by Les Arènes and 5 Continents in France), is composed solely of photos of male couples, 350 exactly, taken between 1850 and 1950. They are taken from the collection of Americans Neal Treadwell and Hugh Nini, who have gleaned nearly 3,000 over the past twenty years.

The work raises awareness of the scarcity, even the total absence, in the collective memory, of representations of men in couples before the end of the 20th century.

It gives a glimpse of the reality of these romances in sepia, black and white.

There, dandies in lavallières taking hands;

here, soldiers entwined in the snow;

on the blanket, two workers in overalls head to head ...

While most of the photographs leave no doubt about the feelings shared by the protagonists, some use codes, such as that of the umbrella, symbolizing the union of the people sheltering below.

Others are even less obvious and may appear to the public as reflections of a manly friendship.

“There is one way to tell if a photo is 'in love': look at the eyes.

Something in the eyes is not mistaken.

Two beings in love do not pretend, ”says the couple of collectors in his preface.

“The basic hypothesis consists in affirming that it is through the gaze that we recognize love and that this allows us to affirm that we are dealing with couples in love, but in oneself, we do not know nothing.

Except for a few ”, nuance with

Régis Schlagdenchage, lecturer, specialist in the history of sexuality, gender and homosexualities, who signs the introduction in French of

.

"Not married, but eager to be"

Neal Treadwell and Hugh Nini, in the opening pages, tell the story of John W. Moore, an American soldier who, shortly before his death, gave a loved one a ring and a box containing photos showing him with a another soldier, Dariel, taken at the end of World War II in Austria.

“For [them], this month of May 1945 was the month of love.

They took advantage of the hikes in the Alps to pose romantically in the snow.

On the pictures, we see on John's finger the ring he was going to keep all his life, ”write the collectors.

They also reveal that John, when he returned to Texas "got married and started a family" that he "was gay, but he didn't show it."

Apart from this couple, the readership will know nothing of the stories of the men appearing at the bends of the pages.

He may feel a certain emotion to imagine what their lives could be like at a time when homosexuality was predominantly stigmatized, and even criminalized.

Thus, the image of two young men, probably from the 19th century, brandishing a sign "Not married, but willing to be" ("Not married, but willing to be"), resonates noticeably at the time of equal marriage. .

"A historical testimony"

Uncovered in 2020, these old-fashioned romances are emerging from the shadows.

“It's true, but modestly.

They would exist much more if they were backed up by stories, underlines Régis Schlagden Chauden while welcoming this project at the international launch.

It is about a universal feeling, love.

It brings another look.

It is also a historical testimony, over a hundred years, showing that having a portrait taken was an important act.

"

On this point, we will note disparities according to social class.

“The men of the working classes, workers, farmers, according to the literature that I was able to consult, went to see a photographer.

They wanted to show a very manly form of friendship a bit like

to give a speaking example to the greatest number, adds the lecturer.

The men of the upper classes pose in an interior, probably at home.

We can assume that they were photographed by a relative.

"

“Rather than classifying individuals [according to their social background], this collection brings us all, as if by accident, under one umbrella.

This book takes a fresh look at the universality of the feeling most present in novels, plays and films: love.

Its message is addressed to all, ”conclude the collectors.

And for once, this cliché is devoid of sentimentality.

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