MEN ONLY: Vernacular Photographs of Male Affection from the Collection of William Knodel

February 4, 2012 to March 17, 2012

William Knodel was a college student in the 1970s in New York City when he purchased his first second-hand snapshot, a group of young men in assorted swimming attire whose style dated them back to the turn of the century, posing before a camp tent marked with a sign, “Men Only.” Since then he’s collected vernacular images of male affection – tintypes, daguerreotypes and photos – during his travels to the West Coast, Canada, and Europe, scouring second-hand shops, old photo sales and used book stores. His collection now runs into the hundreds, dating from the mid-19th century and featuring couples and socializing groups from every race and social class. MEN ONLY is a gift that incarnates the “gay spirit” that his good friend Harry Hay warned us must be kept alive and a history too often dismissed.

Curated by Nancy Keefe Rhodes

Thanks to our exhibition/catalog sponsors: Marna Bell & Howard Walsdorf, Dik Cool, Gerald & Judy Grant, Glenna & Horace Hall, David Jenks (Syracuse Antiques Exchange); Donna Kaplan (The Framing Studio), Light Work/Community Dark Rooms, Scott Luscombe, Jack Mannion & Stephanie Miner, Andrew Molloy, Deirdre Nelson, Walter Putter & Marilyn Smith, Gary Radke, Cindy Squillace & Jack Manno, Ann Tiffany & Ed Kinane and Jeff Unaitis.

Thanks to our programming sponsors: The “Q” Center and from Syracuse University; Light Work/Community Dark Rooms, The College of Arts and Sciences, the LGBT Studies Program, the LGBT Resource Center, the departments of Transmedia, History, Art and Music Histories, and Communication and Rhetorical Studies.