[Two Unidentified Men]

Your Mirror: Portraits from the ICP Collection
Section: Identification
Images of such relaxed displays of affection between American men were common in the nineteenth century. While a range of same-sex relationships between men existed during this period, this suggestive and ambiguous ambrotype demonstrates the extent to which the interpretation of images depends upon shifting social values; the photograph is neither proof of a gay relationship nor a straightforward homosocial pose.