A remarkable collection of 4,000 historical photographs capturing men in love between the 1850s and 1950s is coming to Australia for the first time, offering a poignant glimpse into hidden queer relationships from the past.
The Accidental Collection That Grew Into a Movement
What began as a simple Sunday afternoon discovery in an antique shop has transformed into an internationally significant archive of queer history. American couple Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell found their first photograph of two men embracing in front of a suburban home 25 years ago, drawn to the image because the house resembled their own Dallas residence.
The black-and-white picture from 1927 featured the inscription "Walter and Harry" on the back, sparking what would become a decades-long passion for preserving these intimate moments. The couple initially kept their growing collection private, thinking people might find their hobby strange.
"When we found the first one, we never expected there would be a second one," Treadwell recalls. "And when we found the second one, we never expected there would be a third one. And so here we are, 4000 photographs later."
From Private Passion to Public Exhibition
The collection, now known as the Nini-Treadwell collection, spans 36 countries and captures male couples across a century of photography. The images show men in various settings - some in army uniforms, others in fashionable period clothing, some laughing and carefree, others looking solemn and committed.
What unites all the photographs is the unmistakable look of love between the subjects. The couple developed an intuitive sense for identifying genuine affection, trawling through flea markets, auction houses, family albums and online collections to build their archive.
One particularly striking image shows a young couple holding a sign that reads "Not married, but willing to be" - a studio prop originally used for classified ads. "It's the most profound one, because it's so bold and so declarative and so clear," Nini says of this powerful photograph.
Canberra Exhibition Marks Significant Anniversary
The LOVING exhibition opens at Canberra Museum and Gallery on December 6 and will run until April 2026, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the High Court's decriminalisation of homosexuality throughout Australia.
CMAG director Anna Wong describes the exhibition as offering both global and local perspectives on gay love. "LOVING gives us a global, historic perspective. Queerberra brings it home," she says. "Both speak to the strength and dignity of being true to yourself, and our common hope for respect and inclusion."
The main exhibition will be shown alongside A Loving City: Queerberra Revisited, a return to a 2017 portrait series by photographer Jane Duong and producer Victoria Firth-Smith. The original project captured more than 100 portraits of LGBTQIA+ Canberrans in the weeks leading up to the same-sex marriage postal vote results.
Emotional Impact and Historical Significance
Since publishing their collection in book form in 2020, Nini and Treadwell have been overwhelmed by the emotional response from viewers. They've received countless messages from people deeply moved by the images, including one friend who said the book gave him the courage to come out.
"I finally just sat alone in the dark, flipping through the pages and just sobbed because it showed me what I didn't think I could have had all these years," their friend told them.
The photographers acknowledge that most of the subjects' stories remain unknown, but they hold quiet hopes for the couples they've preserved through their collection. "We just, quietly inside ourselves, hope that they lived happy lives together," Treadwell says.
The exhibition represents not just a collection of historical artifacts, but a testament to love that persisted despite social constraints, offering contemporary audiences a powerful connection to queer experiences across time.
