Vintage gay man
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The show, titled “Loving,” is based on the 2020 photography book Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love by Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell.
It’s a wonderful exploration of observation. The new documentary from Emmy-winning actor and producer David Millbern, 100 Years of Men in Love: The Accidental Collection showcases intimate vintage photos of gay men who had the courage to celebrate their love and authenticity, long before LGBTQ rights or marriage equality was even thought of.
At the premiere, I sensed and felt the entire audience going on that journey—sitting, watching, contemplating, and fantasizing what their lives must have been like. There’s a whole section. I couldn’t be happier.
Others were pristine as if they were put in a frame on a mantel somewhere. They were holding up this little sign in this tintype that said Bourbon Indiana Fair, 1908. Many of them were found in suitcases and in rummage sales, and some had creases on them as if they were folded up in a wallet and hidden. That little gesture so they can be touching, and we go through many scenarios in the film where we see feet on top of feet, thighs touching, legs touching.
But Here TV audiences, those who will research the film and know the film, will realize there can be an action figure who’s openly gay and still be an action hero. The umbrella was kind of like the rainbow flag, and you’ll see that. They went up into the Swiss Alps and took great pictures of their love for each other, and there is a nephew of one of those gentlemen who is still alive.
It was also great to sit in a theater and see it with 200 people—to experience the film as a journey—and it’s an art piece as well, because I very much purposefully lingered on the photos. So many issues need to be resolved, and we don’t have freedoms in some states the way we should.
100 Years of Photographs of Gay Men in Love
Hundreds of photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries offer a glimpse at the life of gay men during a time when their love was illegal almost everywhere.
A beautiful group of photographs that spans a century (1850–1950) is part of a new book that offers a visual glimpse of what life may have been like for those men, who went against the law to find love in one another’s arms.
Denny is also the Senior Lifestyle Writer for South Florida's OutClique Magazine and a contributing writer for Instinct Magazine. He’s passed on now, but that nephew said, “Yep, that’s my uncle, and that was his lover. The fact that we’re able to openly love, have commitment, and have marriage equality, that’s today.