“LOVING” Photographs Of Men In Love 1850s To 1950s Is On At Canberra Museum And Gallery
A quiet, gutsy exhibition of men who found each other anyway. It’s on now at Canberra Museum And Gallery, and it’s the kind of show you walk into “for a look” and leave feeling oddly tender.
A love story that survived the hiding.
The exhibition is built from the Nini Treadwell Collection, gathered over decades by collectors Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell, who claim to have followed what they call “the unmistakable look of love” in old photographs.
The images span the 1850s to the 1950s, a time when many relationships between men had to stay private, and in many places were illegal. That context is the point. You’re not looking at poses for the camera as much as proof of a life that existed.
What makes it hit.
Some pictures are playful. Some are brazen. Some are just domestic, like any couple taking a snapshot to remember the day. Have you ever looked at an old photo and felt the years drop away for a second?
At DNA, we love a cultural moment that reminds us that love has always been here, even when people were told to pretend it wasn’t. CMAG curator Nicole Sutherland puts it plainly: “That love should be shared.”
When and where.
LOVING is showing at Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG), cnr London Circuit and City Walk, Canberra City. Opening hours are Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm, and Saturday to Sunday 12pm to 4pm. Dates run 6 December 2025 to 5 April 2026.
