The Girl in the Outhouse

For those of you who follow me on Tumblr, you know that I'm somewhat obsessed at the moment with vintage photographs depicting men and friendship. I love how the pictures create and intimate connection in the present with relationships of the past.

I almost passed by this image without noticing the story it told. At first glance, the two men--perhaps father and son--are getting a portrait taken. Based on their dress the image suggests it's circa 1860s. There are lots of family photos from that era--perhaps fathers wanting to capture a moment with their son's prior to departing to fight in the Civil War. I've read that most soldiers carried a photo of their family with them in their personal effects.

Look closely behind the door of the structure. Peaking out from behind a wooden door is a little girl that turns this ordinary picture into something extraordinary. Her story, like that of the two men, will never be known. Perhaps she snuck herself into the image marveling at the ability of a photographer capturing an image. Maybe she knew her father was about ready to leave for war--and might never return.

Absent of any details that can be verified, we are left to let the picture speak to us on our own. There she stands behind these too men, glancing out at us from the past reminding us of moments that have passed.

For more images of vintage men and their relationships (some gay, some straight) visit: Two Men and Their Dog; Adam and Steve in the Garden of Eden: On Intimacy Between Men; A Man and His Dog; The Beasts of West Point; Vintage Men: Innocence Lost | The Photography of William Gedney; It's Only a Paper Moon;Vintage Gay America: Crawford Barton; These Men Are Not Gay | This Is Not A Farmer | Disfarmer; Desire and Difference: Hidden in Plain Sight, Come Make Eyes With Me Under the Anheuser Bush, Hugh Mangum: Itinerant Photographer, Two men, Two Poses; Photos are Not Always What They Seem,Vintage Sailors: An Awkward Realization, Three Men on a Horse, Welkom Bar: Vintage Same Sex Marriage, Pretty in Pink: Two Vintage Chinese Men, Memorial Day Surprise: Vintage Sailor Love, Memorial Day: Vintage Dancing Sailors, The Curious Case of Two Men Embracing, They'll Never Know How Close We Were, Vintage Love: Roger Miller Pegram,Manly Affections: Robert Gant, Homo Bride and Groom Restored to Dignity, The Men in the Trees, The Girl in the Outhouse, Tommy and Buzz: All My Love,Men in Photo Booths, and Invisible: Philadelphia Gay Wedding c. 1957. You can also follow me on Tumblr.