Hugh Nini et Neal TreadwellIls s’aiment

A photographic history of men in love (with each other). This collection of images of male couples captured over 100 years (between 1850 and 1950) builds a visual narrative of intriguing sensitivity. Taken when male partnerships were often illegal, the photos here are from the collection of a married couple, Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell, who over the past 20 years have meticulously accumulated over 2,800 photographs of men in love. How did Nini and Treadwell determine if a picture had its place in the collection? The expression in the eyes of the men in it. They examined each picture searching for the type of expression of love and tenderness which one cannot hide. The couple found the pictures at flea markets, in shoe boxes, estate sales, family archives, old suitcases, and on online auctions. This book is also a witness of a sort of social courage of individuals living their homosexuality during times of moral and legal repression.