All language subtitles for 100 Years of Men in Love (2022).UK_ENG

(camera flashing)

(slow piano music)

[Neal] We call this the
accidental collection because,

never in a million
years did we think

we were really
collecting anything.

Neal and I attended the
church here in Dallas

for 18 years, and there's

a small antique mall
near the church.

And so after church was over,
we would just sometimes stop

off there and browse.

We were there one
Sunday, we were there.

We were just going through there

and have these little boots.

And we found a group of
moxa photos just digging

through them.

And one of them was a
photograph of a male couple.

And the look in their eyes
said that there's clearly

something more here
than friendship.

There was a little bit
of love that showed,

there was something
special between them.

To us, we looked at the
photo, the photo looked back at
us

and said, we're the
same and we bought it,

it wasn't expensive.

And we didn't think we
would ever see another one.

(camera shutters)

It was astonishing,
we could not believe

that a photograph like
this had ever been taken,

much less survived what
looked like approximately 80
years

at that point.

We came home with it, we
set it down on our office desk

in our home, and it
sat there for months.

We moved it from pile to
pile as when we were cleaning

the desk and it was
nice to run across it.

(camera shutters)

[Neal] We found a second
one, probably the only other one

that we'll probably
ever have to find.

[Hugh] The second one of
the only two that existed

in the world.

And then there's three.

(soft piano music)

(calm piano music)

[Neal] When we
moved to New York,

we continued our
collecting here.

[Hugh] Yeah, third and
then there were 10.

(car horn honks)

It just grew and grew and grew

and we were never
consciously thinking

that we're collecting
photographs.

200 and 500.

[Neal] And 700.

[Hugh] When you see the
collection, all you're looking
at

is two people who are
in love with each other.

(calm piano music)

We just kept thinking we
were running across these photos

and they needed to be rescued.

We traveled to
Europe every summer

because we have very close
friends in Budapest and Paris,

and that put us in
contact with European

and other types of collectors.

Some in Estonia, Serbia,
Croatia, but also Europe.

And then Neal's job had
him traveling all over

the United States for a good 20.

[Neal] So if I had
a day or two off,

I hit antique stores
looking for everything,

but it was always
drawn to the photos.

(camera shutters)

[Hugh] We have a
collecting parameter

that we impose on ourselves
and it's called the 50-50 rule.

And we can find a
photograph of a couple,

like in this
instance, these two,

if you look closely
at the photographs,

there's a look in their
eyes that this is not a look

that two friends posing
in a photograph have,

it's something more.

(calm piano music)

[Narrator] "John and Gio."

(calm piano music)

"Kariel and Gene."

(calm piano music)

When we started
collecting, a lot of the photos

are really small and
probably a couple of years into
it,

Hugh starts scanning photos in.

And one of the tintypes
that we saw that special look

in their eyes and they
were holding hands

and had their legs
crossed, that when we zoomed in,

followed the shoulder down
to where the other hand went,

the other guy's hand
was, he slid it into

the other guy's inner thigh
and it was kind of shocking.

We were really excited
because that was a true
telltale,

that this was 150%.

[Hugh] And that element in
the photograph explained

that mischievous looking
the one guy's eyes

when he's doing this, and this
photograph is probably 1800s

maybe 1870s or 80s, or
possibly even earlier.

It's a tintype, so
it's done on metal

and these were only done
for about a five-year period

of time.

The tintype was the
cheapest photograph

you could actually
have produced,

because it's positive
onto the metal.

It didn't require a
negative and so in producing
these,

they would have them
at fairs or at circus,

so this offered up anyone,
the capability of having

their photograph taken.

And there wasn't the
history of a negative

that could be reproduced,
so in several photos we have,

they would do something
really fast and slight of hand

to show their affection
for each other

and then they would take it
away knowing that they had that.

(bright piano music)

(camera shutters)

[Narrator] "Boy oh
boy, what a pucker."

"Dale and new friend,
1939 San Diego park."

"First friends, Bobby, 1939."

[Neal] I think our favorite
photo in the entire collection

is, we call it
Splendor In The Grass.

It's a gorgeous photo, of two
guys laying out in the field

and it looks like
they're on a picnic,

there's a loaf of bread there

and it's kind of
Bruce Weber like,

so it could be in today's time.

But this photo actually
was taken probably around 1910.

And it's just the
colorization, the sepia tones,

it's a work of art,
it's just gorgeous.

[Hugh] And their expression
in their eyes, it is amazing.

[Neal] There was a
professor from Vienna.

I know who's in the
photograph, it's Rupert Brook,

who's a famous poet from
the UK and Duncan Grant,

who is a famous artist.

Hugh and I both on our
own Googled and looked up

all these photographs of
these two, and if it's not them,

it's their twin.

(calm piano music)

The picture in the
collection that stands out most
to me

is the, not married,
but willing to be.

This was taken
around 1900.

A young man who would
put on his best suit

and shave and comb
his hair and go in

and have his photograph taken.

One of the posters would be
to hold this sign up saying,

"Not married, but
willing to be."

Meaning he himself is not
married, but ladies I'm
available.

And so that sign is in
this photographer studio

and these young men held up
the sign and turned the meaning

on its head, they
turned it into,

we're not married to each
other, but we're willing to be.

And they looked to be in
their teens, I think, yeah.

[Neal] Yeah, probably.

[Hugh] They're very young.

[Neal] The photograph of
them holding the umbrella

where they're gazing
into each other's eyes

and they're holding the
stem, and if you look up close

to how their fingers are
placed, they're interlocked

on the stem of the umbrella.

But again, you can see
that look in their eyes.

Marriage equality is a
conversation everywhere

and has been for maybe 20
years, but 120 years ago,

that wasn't even a
thought, at least we didn't
think

it was a thought, but
these guys thought of it.

The photo booth portion of
our collection is unique

in that, a couple could
serve as the subjects

and the photographer
and the developer.

And so you didn't
have to worry about

any third party
intervention or contact.

And if a developer or a
photographer who may not be
friendly

or sympathetic to your
situation, these photographs
tend

to be even more diffusive,
joyful, expressive,

in that you're sitting in this
booth, the curtain is closed,

nobody's watching
you doing anything.

The intensity and the
expressions are just,

they're more powerful
in some cases

than many of the other
photographs on our collection.

'Cause it's so private.

They're there, on
their own, free to be

as expressive as want.

(bright
instrumental music)

[Narrator] "George
Thompson and the Buddy, 1940.

Here's one of both of us
before we were well, you know."

There's a group of
photographs that,

it is not completely obvious

when you look at it
superficially, that this is a
couple,

but these couples
left tell tale signs,

that they were a couple.

(camera shutters)

(calm piano music)

To one in particular
that I'm thinking of,

it's two men, they're Germans

and they're wearing
bathing suits and they're
posing,

arm around each other, but
it looks like a buddy pose,

but if you follow the
photograph down lower,

what you see is that they
have very discreetly,

touched their thighs together.

You go a little bit lower and
one of them has moved his foot

over on top of the
other man's foot.

So these very discreet
little hints that,

we might look like
buddies from the waist up,

but look from the waist
down and there's some signs

that we're a couple and
that we love each other.

[Neil] There's one where
another guy's reaching over

and he's touching the guy's
chin and it's making them smile,

but again, when you follow
the body down and the leg down,

he's tapping the
other guy's foot.

So it's just this
little gesture of love.

And we see that a lot.

(calm piano music)

I think the most romantic
photo in the book

is one of two guys in bed
and when you first see it,

you just see two guys
that are laying there,

they have on their
pajamas, probably around 1915,

and they're holding a
book and it's called,

"Adventure Magazine."

But when you really take a look

and you start really
focusing on the photo,

their legs are intertwined
into each other's

and it's that moment that,

it looks like a beautiful
Sunday afternoon

and they're sharing the
sunshine coming in from the
window

and it's white sheets and
it was just really crisp,

but it's the expression
that you believe you see

that just makes you know
that they love each other

and they're there
and they're enjoying

the Sunday morning together.

(calm piano music)

[Narrator] "Me
and Harvey, 1929."

(calm piano music)

"Bill Presant
and Jack Law.

In front of Quebec Museum,
Quebec, P2, May, 1944."

(calm piano music)

"Miracle corn.

Charles, Charles,
two lovely birdies."

(calm piano music)

"A passing fancy, just to
dodge, but, oh, the rides.

Summer 1919."

(calm piano music)

"May 31st, 1931, Sal and Cliff.

Taken at Hook mountain."

"Bud and Brandy, 1937."

(calm piano music)

"This is one of Elsie's
brothers and myself.

Rather poor, but Tony loved me.

(calm piano music)

We had our happy days, but
those days are gone forever.

Now I'm alone
to go my way.

Now, his old guitar is
silent, the one he used to play,

but it will ring
in my mind forever

as it did in the good old days."

[Neal] One of the
photographs in our collection

has a mysterious quality to
it, that is really intriguing.

It's two men, they
look to be very young

and they are actually
in bed together

and they're laying
on their sides.

They're both looking
into the camera,

but one has a very
mischievous look on his face

and they wrote at the
bottom of the photograph.

[Narrator] "After the ball."

It's joyous, but it has a
mysterious quality to it

because of what
they wrote.

You wonder where they
were that evening

and how they ended up
there, I think we know the
answer

to that though, and that they
chose that particular moment

in their relationship to
the photograph and memorialized

for whatever future
it would have.

Romantically, the
photograph that intrigues me the
most

is the one of the two
soldiers laying on a cot

and they're embracing
and you can just barely

make out outline
of one guy's cheek,

a little bit mysterious,
but very romantic.

(calm piano music)

It's almost like a candle shot.

I mean, it's gorgeousness,
sepia tones in it,

so it makes you feel like
you're kind of stepping

into an intimate setting.

Yeah, feels like we
shouldn't be looking at this.

(laughing)

(calm piano music)

(camera shutters)

[Narrator] "Love you.

(calm piano music)

Taken in Hollywood,
his name is Sandy.

Love me?"

(calm piano music)

"Dutie and I on one of
my little trips home.

Oh, what a time we had."

(calm piano music)

There's a couple of
the postcard photos

that we have that I think
people tend to mimic movies

because they see something
that's fun or playful

and in those too, that we
have where there's one person

in the photo that's like
putting his finger up to his
mouth

and going, I like
you, kind of a sweet.

[Hugh] That was a gesture
that was like around the turn

of the century and I think
lasted into silent films.

It's cute, and
some great photos.

I think one of the photos
that is most mysterious to me,

there's these two guys
that are up on this column

and they are like
in a dancing pose.

The column has to be
probably 20 foot off the ground.

And so you're wondering,
I mean, they look so calm

and just so relaxed,
big smiles on their face

and there is nothing
around that says,

we got up here this way,
or how did they get down?

It's just an amazing shot.

(calm piano music)

[Narrator] "The two
sad sacks from Texas.

Up on the Alps at
Kitzbuhel, Austria 45."

[Neal] John and Dariel,

one of the most touching
photographs in the collection.

These are two soldiers from
World War II, American soldiers,

and they were stationed
in Germany originally.

And you can't make this
up, this is so crazy.

They belong to the
42nd infantry division.

Their nickname was
the rainbow division.

(calm piano music)

[Narrator] "A German
painting a rainbow

on one of our office buildings
at Palling, Germany, May 45."

(calm piano music)

[Hugh] In 1945, they were
just getting across Germany

and they came to
the town of Dachau.

And as they were about to
enter the town of Dachau,

they were intercepted,
they were told,

"Don't go into the town,
follow this road into the
forest."

It was the concentration
camp there,

and so they liberated
Dachau concentration camp

on April 29th, 1945.

Seven or eight days
later, Germany surrendered

and the war in Europe was over.

[Narrator] "Penny for
your thoughts Burns.

Oh, wouldn't you like
to know Johnny boy?"

And a couple of days or
weeks, we don't know exactly,

but it's May, 1945, they
hiked up into the Alps

and put on the rings
that they had exchanged

with one another and a
bracelet and a watch,

and they just posed
the most romantic pose,

I think in the book, together.

[Narrator] "Kitzbuhel,
Austria, May, 1945.

PFC Dario Burns, Johnny,
in the snow up on the Alps."

[Hugh] We know
the story of John,

the one soldier in the front.

It's a wonderful story,
it's a beautiful story,

and it had some sort of
a tinge of sadness to it

because John,
after World War II,

he was diagnosed with
muscular dystrophy,

confined to a wheelchair
for the rest of his life.

[Narrator] "Burns and
I, swimming at the Nat,

in Salzburg, Austria,
Summer of 45.

Fancy swim trunks eh?"

(chuckles)

"Burns and myself,
Kitzbuhel, Austria, May, 45."

Very beautiful lake
and nice for swimming.

His nephew imparted to
us about 150 photographs

of his uncle and what we
know is from the nephew is that

his uncle, who was
a gay man, closeted,

he would periodically
take out the shoe box

that he had hidden in his
house and in the shoe box,

were all these photographs
of him and his boyfriend

from World War II and he
would just go through them

and remember their
relationship and the love

that they shared.

It's hard to fathom what
that would be like for someone.

There are less question
marks regarding John and Dariel

than there are anybody else in
the collection of all 3,200.

We actually know some very
significant parts of their
story,

which is just
absolutely amazing.

And that ring that John is
wearing is worn to this day,

by his nephew, every day.

(calm piano music)

(camera shutters)

[Narrator] "My boyfriend
pushing Shirley and I

in the wheelbarrow.

Some picture."

(calm piano music)

"Edward and his chum."

(calm piano music)

"This is my boyfriend and I."

Taken on their last trip
to the moon, June 11th, 1915.

(calm piano music)

(camera shutters)

[Hugh] Two men
laying on the lawn.

It looks like a
manicured lawn actually.

And they're embracing
and it looks like

they've been sunbathing

And so the camera is up
hive from where their perch is

and they're looking
up into the camera

and they just have the
most joyful smiling expressions

on their face that
you can imagine.

And the embrace is very
tight, they're almost melting

into one another.

And then you see these
beautiful smiles and sparkling
eyes,

and it just makes your
heart sing, when you look at it.

(calm piano music)

(camera shutters)

[Narrator] "This is
my boyfriend, again."

[Neal] One of the photos
that we got pretty early

in the collection, it's two
guys, they're kind of rockabilly

and just the way he's
leaning back into his friend,

his boyfriend, the person he
looks like he's in love with.

At first view of the
photo, you don't really notice
it,

but they position this car that
they're on in a certain way.

I mean, even the name on the
hubcap is positioned perfectly,

but it just pulls
you into that photo

and it just gives you
a very warm feeling,

because here's two guys out on
a farm and it's just adorable

it's so sweet.

[Hugh] Their eyes
are just electric.

[Neal] And you just
see it in their eyes,

and that's something
we talk about a lot

because that's something
that pulls us to the photos.

There's that unmistakable
look that you have

when you're in love.

And to us, when you look
at that and you look

in those two guys,
eyes, it's just there.

[Hugh] The other aspect
of it is that they're

on the hood of a car.

I'm not this way,
Neil's not this way,

we're not all about
cars, but guys are,

generally speaking about cars
and I don't know what that is,

but it's a thing.

And so here's this couple,
maybe it's a status symbol

or something, especially
the car was a big deal,

even back then, for
somebody their age.

For them to pose that
way in such a dramatic,

romantic embrace on
the hood of the car,

and it's such a big photo
and it's a full image,

head to toe with both of them,

something about
it's really grand.

(playful music)

[Narrator] "Two of a
kind, Red And Frank,

just a remembrance."

(playful music)

"My darling, 1949."

(playful music)

"Love in a car."

(playful music)

I think if we could
slip into a photo

and I'll let you talk
about, because I think

we both have the same one,
so you tell me what you think.

The couple on the
hood of the car?

- Yes.
- Yeah.

[Neal] I think it's these
two guys, they're so cute,

they're on the hood of a
car, one's sitting kind of over

the tire on one side, the
other one has lounged over

and has his arms
just wrapped around

with the most beautiful
smile and just hugging this guy

from behind.

He's got his head
laid on the guy's back

and they're just, I hate
to overuse the word,

but they're just melting
into one another.

And if I was going to
melt into somebody,

I'd melt into you on that car.

I'd melt back
into you too.

(playful music)

(camera shutters)

I think the picture
that draws my attention

and moves me the most and
makes me the most curious

about the subjects is,
we've nicknamed them,

Clive and Morris.

It's two men from
probably the 1870s,

they're very well-dressed,
they have identical jewelry,

cuff links, and this is
a very old photograph.

So in order to take
this photograph,

I had to sit very
still for a long time.

And it's where one man is
gazing into the other man's eyes

and the other one's
turning his head away,

just a little bit in
shyness, but it's all staged.

It makes you wonder what the
relationship was really like.

The photograph is
beautiful, absolutely stunning.

And they are a couple,
one man is sitting

on the other's lap,
so there's that.

But they did create a mood
with that particular photograph

and I just wonder, when
the camera was off,

what were they like, how
did they talk to each other?

And what was the
relationship in fact, truly
like?

(calm piano music)

(camera shutters)

[Narrator] "John,
David, Eddy, 1915."

David shared Eddie's
feelings for another kind of
love.

(calm piano music)

Woody and Bob 1922.

"Woody is shy, but he
likes when I hold him.

I think he might consent."

"Palsies, more than Bowsie's."

In our collection, we
have several photographs

of one of the couples,
or both of the couples,

where they take a
photograph, but they turned the
backs

of their heads
towards the camera.

They know they're in the shot,

they know that
there are a couple,

but they didn't want
to risk the possibility

that someone might come
across the photograph

and they would be
somehow punished for it.

Couple, standing on a
railroad track with the train

in the background, and
the conductor is standing

at the back of the train,
pointing at something,

we're not sure what, and
they're embracing full frontal,

very tightly with each other
and it's a very strong embrace,

but one of the men said,
appears that he said,

"I'll be in this photograph,
but I need to turn my head away

from the camera, so that
only the back of my head

is showing."

The other man is looking
right into the camera

and he's just absolutely
loving the moment.

I think they're probably
both loving the moment,

one had higher level of
comfort than the other one did.

(camera shutters)

Picture that makes
me laugh out loud,

the two sailors are
out in the park.

I mean, they're laying
there, they're kinda wrestling

a little bit, but they're
in a loving embrace

and they have these big
smiles on their face.

And it's something to
like written on the back.

[Narrator] "Ice cream
is good on a hot day.

Smith and Wade still in love?"

[Neal] But it's just
adorable and they're not afraid

to express themselves and
everyone's kind of looking
around

at them like, "Hey,
that's who they are."

But it just makes you happy.

[Narrator] "Joe and I
talking over some things

which we do quite
often at noon."

(calm piano music)

"Harry and Ernie."

(calm piano music)

"Lars, Pitt, 1943."

(calm piano music)

"Harley P Humphrey, and I.T
Huff, on the lock in Bremerton,

Washington, with all
my love, Harley."

(calm piano music)

We have a photograph
in the collection,

which was astonishing
to come across.

It's two men, and we
didn't understand exactly

what we were
looking at at first,

and what we realized
looking closer,

is that they have a camera
sitting, it looks like

on a dresser and it's
pointed into the mirror,

they're standing
behind the camera,

and we did a little bit of
research after we noticed

that one guy was holding
something in his hand.

And as early as 1902, you
could take your own photograph,

a selfie.

So what they're using is called
the Ferry's shutter tripper.

It's a rubber hose that
connects to the camera

at the end of the hose on
your end is a rubber ball,

and when you squeeze the
ball, it pushes air through

the hose and causes the
camera shutter to trip.

And so these men
took, we're gonna say,

the first documented
selfie of a romantic male couple

and wrote below it.

[Narrator] "In
the mirror."

(calm piano music)

[Neal] There's one photo
that we had and we call it

the first gay wedding,
because they're actually

giving each other rings.

And so the one guy
has his hand up,

he's sliding the ring on, they
have an umbrella behind them,

and then there's the
minister in the photo,

but they're exchanging
jewelry there.

And when we've zoomed
into a lot of the photos,

when we scan them
in, we found that

there's matching pinky rings
or that they may have jewelry

like matching bracelets
that that are shared.

We didn't even realize the
umbrella in it at first,

then we found another
one with an umbrella,

it's probably three or four
into it that we actually thought

there's some kind of
theme going on here.

(calm piano music)

[Hugh] Then we can't find
any scholarship on this,

so this is just us talking
about our collection

of what's crystal clear to
us is that, two men between

the 1860s and the 1920s
posing together with an
umbrella,

was an indication that
they were a couple

and you could take the umbrella
away and you could still see

that there were a couple,

but the umbrella was sort
of an added, I don't know,

it's like the rainbow flag
or something at the time.

[Neal] It looks like
protection or security

and keeping them close together,

because you have to get
closer to be under an umbrella.

And there's the one photo
of the two guys sitting

on the beach with the
three girls behind them,

so they're holding the umbrella

and it's holding
them close together

and then there's the
three ladies that are

their security
guards behind them.

And what our collection
revealed to us,

which was very unexpected
is that between like the 1890s

and the late 1920s, there was
a much more open and accepting

and embracing community.

A lot of these couples had
friends and family and siblings

and so forth in the
photographs with them

and their expressions
of love for one another

were way more effusive than
any time before or after that.

(calm piano music)

[Narrator] "Here are your
uncle Bill with his friend, Jim.

They met when they
were in the Navy.

After the Navy, they moved
to San Francisco around 1938

and lived together
until uncle Bill died.

Your father said they
were queer as a duck.

Uncle Bill had a couple of
horses he rode in parades."

(calm piano music)

"Klinger and I, in our
home, April 15th, 1955."

(bouncy music)

"My beloved
darling, Andre.

A little darling,
sweeter than he looks."

(bouncy music)

Davis and JC.

[Hugh] Our collection
has over 3000.

And over the last 20
years, we have collected

every single photograph of
an African-American couple

or a biracial couple and
that number is about 30.

African-Americans
in this country

had been disenfranchised
historically and includes

every facet of life
in the United States.

And it goes on to
this day, still.

Photography was as
unavailable to them

as everything else was.

[Neal] So, this is one of
African-American couples

that we have.

We're guessing it's New York,
we wanna think it's New York.

And the two guys on the roof,

but just in the cute
little rocking chair

and a little playful but
sitting in each other's lap.

(bouncy music)

[Neal] It was amazing to
us that male couples who were

in love with each other, would
have their photograph taken.

That's a risk, that's the
first tier of our collection

and that's the majority
of the collection.

And that's pretty
rare in and of itself.

That's amazing.

(calm piano music)

And then there's a
higher level of intimacy

when you're on the beach
wearing a bathing suit,

because your skin is exposed

and if you touch your skin
to the person next to you,

that is an indication that
there is a relationship there.

There are many
photographs where in fact,

one in particular I'm
thinking of, is a couple

that is laying on a dock.

I think it's at a lake and
they're embracing in a manner,

they're wearing bathing
suits of course.

They're embracing in a
manner that could very well have

taken place in a bad and
embracing in a very intimate,

beautiful way and
expressing through their eyes,

their love for
one another.

[Narrator] "Marty and
Blakey, June 2nd, 1935,

Lake Michigan."

(calm piano music)

[Neal] And then there's
that second photo on the beach,

that the two guys under
the blanket, it says reserve

on the blanket, but I
mean, they're very close,

so it's like they are
under the sheets of a bed

in a playful way, that
it's just cute as can be.

[Hugh] One of the photos
that amuses me the most is,

they're two sailors, it
appears to be around World War
II,

possibly a little bit earlier
and they're on the ship's deck

and they're wearing
very small bathing suits

and they're posed
together, one arm is around

the other guy's arm and
one of the subjects is sitting.

One of the men is sitting on
a stool next to his boyfriend

and they have this very
mischievous look in their eyes

and the boyfriend sitting on
the stool has his hand reached

over and on his
boyfriend's thigh.

(calm piano music)

[Narrator] "A couple of GI's."

(calm piano music)

"Braun and Leo M."

(calm piano music)

[Neal] And then the
next tier you get to

is couples fully
clothed, in bed together.

(calm piano music)

[Narrator] "Note my
haircut, it looks like in the
slums.

See how sad I look?

Haha."

(calm piano music)

[Hugh] And then of
course, the highest tier

is to kiss one another and
have that photograph taken,

that erases any
plausible ambiguity

about what the
photograph is about.

[Neal] The first photo of the
kiss was probably the fourth

or fifth photograph
that we found.

And it was two guys
in front of a house.

[Hugh] Very middle-class
suburbia, 1920s, probably.

That's a really passionate
kiss out in the open,

in front of the
neighbors and everybody.

[Neal] It's something
about that photograph

that there they're
expressing their love

and didn't look like
there was any hesitation

for them to do so, that
they were definitely proud

of who they were
and it wasn't like,

well, let's kiss really
quick in this photograph.

It wasn't something that looked
like there was a hesitation.

Rocky Nook, Labor day, 1910.

Rocky Nook is right outside
of Santa Barbara, it's a park.

Here's two guys up on a
rock for all the world to see,

the ocean behind them and a
beautiful embrace and kissing.

[Hugh] The highest tier,
the kissing photographs

and not just kissing, but
as Neil said, we wanna be up

on the top of the rock,
higher than anything else,

closer to the sky and
have our picture taken.

[Neal] And then this one
just showing that they were out

to their friends, I
guess you could say,

because they have the
three ladies behind them.

And obviously they cared
deeply for these two guys,

because they're, showing
that their support

and just kind of securing
them while they do their kiss.

(calm piano music)

[Narrator] "Lee
and Hank, Easter."

(calm piano music)

"My sweetheart."

(calm piano music)

(calm piano music)

[Hugh] To take these
photographs and to choose that
moment

to be with someone
that you love,

that people don't approve of
during that time, it's amazing.

For these photographs to
have survived beyond their lives

for decades and end up in
our collection is just kind of,

some kind of a miracle I think.

[Neal] We keep them in a
nice little safe in the corner,

to make sure that
nothing happens to them,

because it's something
that's lasted that long,

we wanna make sure it
can last 170 years.

[Hugh] What this collection is,

is a love letter to the world.

(calm piano music)

(camera shutters)

[Narrator] "I send you a
photo that probably will raise

the curtain of a little
part of my life."

(uplifting piano music)

[Hugh] Anyone looking
at these photographs,

gets a strong sense that
these people mattered

to each other, they loved
one another very much.

[Neal] My hope is that people
understand that love is love

no matter what.

[Hugh] I think if this
collection says anything,

it says, this is
absolutely real, it's even real,

under really difficult
circumstances.

And in the end,
it's just universal.

(bright piano music)

♪ Rainy day, go away, come
back when I'm old and gray ♪

♪ Love arrives up with tide, ♪

♪ Jump right in
and take the ride ♪

♪ The sun will shine,
it's just in time ♪

♪ Get that bubba spinach fine ♪

♪ Let's go and play,
we'll sail away ♪

♪ Wonderful, wonderful life ♪

♪ So free and easy ♪

♪ Wet and breezy ♪

♪ All that you have got to do ♪

♪ Is love me for a while ♪

♪ So step right
up fill your cup ♪

♪ Make sure that
you got enough ♪

♪ Forget the blues,
I'll sing them news ♪

♪ Darling I'm in love with you ♪

(bouncy
instrumental music)