From siblings to soulmates to strangers, this exhibition explores the power of human connection. Often, intangible forces seem to unite a pair. These one-on-one ties are the building blocks of love, community, and humanity. Ten photographs from the Scripps College collection showcase a rich spectrum of relationships that complicate and enhance our worlds every day.
Spanning multiple nations and nearly a century, the pieces portray five key bonds that constitute our social lives: parent-child, siblings, coworkers, friends, and lovers. We drew upon our own relationship as co-curators by selecting photographs that, when paired together, engage dynamically in conversation. This process underscored our curatorial intent and strengthened our own connection. The artists included—Milton Rogovin, Leonard Freed, Henry Horenstein, Erika Stone, Gordon Coster, and Jacques Lowe—give us a window into the beauty, complexity, and history that hangs between the heads and hearts of every pair.
This exhibition was shown at Mt. San Antonio Gardens (Nov. 2023 – Jan. 2024), and is presented here virtually. We are exceptionally grateful to Jane ‘64 and Michael Wilson for their continued support of the arts and aspiring curators at Scripps College. We would also like to extend our gratitude to Jane Park Wells ‘93 and the Art Committee at Mt. San Antonio Gardens, as well as the staff of the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery who made this presentation possible: Director Dr. Erin M. Curtis, Collections Manager Kirk Delman, Gallery Installer T Robert Pacini, Academic Curator Margalit Monroe, and Curator of Visual Resources John Trendler.
Curated by Wilson Arts Administration Interns Stella Karm ‘25 and Mara Halpern ‘25
Left image:
Milton Rogovin (1909-2011)
John Grant – Happiness Is…, 1973-2002
Scripps College Collection
Gift of Sally Strauss and Andrew E. Tomback
2022.18.139
Right image:
Leonard Freed (1929-2006)
Although dressed in their school uniforms, these two young boys waste away the afternoon chatting and smoking near a Manchester housing estate instead of going to school, Manchester, England, 1974
Scripps College Collection
Gift of Sally Strauss and Andrew E. Tomback
2020.2.57
These two pairs were the catalyst for our exhibition. Milton Rogovin and Leonard Freed, who both self-identified as social documentary photographers, demonstrate their passion for bringing visibility to the underrepresented, often marginalized individuals in these images. The straight-on composition of each piece highlights the glorious mystique of the subjects. The brick backdrop of Rogovin’s young interracial couple and the vast clearing behind Freed’s suited subjects vitalize and complicate these pairs. The constructed background of Rogovin’s piece is urban, populated by a handful of children. Freed’s, on the other hand, quietly centers a retreating horse, with suburban sprawl adorning the distant horizon line. The fascinating components of these images are unified by the distinct foregrounding of their principal subjects, who loom large. Side by side, the stiff, adjacent postures and deadpan stares evoke delightful intrigue and allure.
Left image:
Henry Horenstein (b. 1947)
Drinking Couple on Wall, Indian Ranch, Webster, Massachusetts, c. 1985
Scripps College Collection
Gift of Sally Strauss and Andrew E. Tomback
2020.2.91
Right image:
Right image:
Henry Horenstein (b. 1947)
Couple Lounging, Jazz Fest, New Orleans, LA, 1982
Scripps College Collection
Gift of Sally Strauss and Andrew E. Tomback
2020.2.91
Henry Horenstein dedicated his career to his passions for country music and horse racing and focused on documenting Americana’s underserved, disappearing, and forgotten. He was guided by his mentor, notable labor historian E.P. Thompson, who believed that “everyone deserved to be preserved, even if their culture or jobs or unique pastimes became lost to history.” We paired these captivating snapshots of couples because of their shared evocation of nostalgia, comfort, and ease before we learned that they were the work of the same photographer. The photographs are similar in composition: the strong, diagonal line of the stone bench parallels that of the man’s splayed, bent leg. From a sun-dappled ranch wall in Massachusetts to a shady patch of grass at a New Orleans jazz fest, Horenstein depicts natural environments that subconsciously immerse viewers by summoning familiar sensations. We can almost feel the grass surrounding the reclined couple or hear the sounds of the trees and the lake behind the seated couple.
Left image:
Erika Stone (b. 1924)
Mother and Child, Atlanta, Georgia, 1970s
Scripps College Collection
Gift of Sally Strauss and Andrew E. Tomback
2019.22.145
Right image:
Henry Horenstein (b. 1947)
Fans, Jazz Fest, New Orleans, LA, 1982
Scripps College Collection
Gift of Sally Strauss and Andrew E. Tomback
2021.17.84
Erika Stone and Henry Horenstein’s careers each revolved around the intimate and dynamic documentation of human experience. Stone found her passion in photographing children and families, while Horenstein focused on more adult themes and bodies. In these two photographs, Stone’s love for family strikingly parallels Horenstein’s eye for pleasure. Brimming with joy, the mother, son, and jazz festivalgoers all beam at an unseen presence beyond the left boundary of the frame. With elbows resting or arms thrown upwards, the figures radiate comfort and exuberance. Stone’s duo, identified as a family at a park in Atlanta, Georgia, are explicitly connected. The pair in Horenstein’s image are more ambiguously bonded. We are left to wonder: did they come to this New Orleans concert together? Did they meet in line? Are they strangers, connected only by the shared experience of listening to music and being the subjects of Horenstein’s lens?
Left image:
Gordon Coster (1906-1988)
Two women office workers, one at typewriter looking overworked, four minutes after 3:00, 1930s
Scripps College Collection
Gift of Sally Strauss and Andrew E. Tomback
2018.24.37
Right image:
Leonard Freed (1929-2006)
Office party, New York City, 1966
Scripps College Collection
Gift of Sally Strauss and Andrew E. Tomback
2018.24.50
These pairs reflect their respective creators: Gordon Coster worked as commercial photographer before developing a passion for labor rights and workplace justice, while Freed was a social documentary photographer with a penchant for visual storytelling. Coster depicts two 1930s female secretaries, in contrast with Freed’s pair of 1960s male employees. Coster employs a kitsch aesthetic to expose the artificiality of workplace standards and professional etiquette, particularly for women at the time. Manifested most explicitly in the exaggerated poses and facial expressions of the two subjects, costume and composition reinforce this camp sensibility. The subjects are dramatically stylized, from their finger-waved hair, thin eyebrows, and boldly defined lips to their conspicuously elegant outfits and accessories. Theatricality persists throughout the scene: a strategically positioned clock hangs ominously between the two women, symbolically yoking them to the workplace. Coster’s occupationally confined women are juxtaposed with Freed’s wild and free businessmen. Dynamism pervades every aspect of Freed’s snapshot: the scene is exhilaratingly ephemeral, boldly punctuated at its center by the dancing men’s limbs, which are blurry with movement.
Left image:
Erika Stone (b. 1924)
Take a Lick, Harlem, 1953
Scripps College Collection
Gift of Sally Strauss and Andrew E. Tomback
2018.24.124
Right image:
Jacques Lowe (1930-2001)
Two girls praying, Hebrides, Scotland, c. 1960s
Scripps College Collection
Gift of Sally Strauss and Andrew E. Tomback
2022.18.68
Erika Stone and Jacques Lowe immerse viewers in the tumultuous experience of childhood. In Stone’s photograph, two young children sweetly share a popsicle. The child on the left gazes tentatively past the camera while carefully holding out the treat for their companion to lick. Stone’s 1953 image, taken in Harlem, fits into her more recent tradition of lovingly capturing moments of familial softness. Importantly, Stone landed in New York City after fleeing Nazi Germany as a teen. Her photographic career began soon thereafter, where she worked with the legendary Photo League and began documenting the city. Lowe, best known for his stint as President Kennedy’s personal photographer, captures two young children in 1960s Scotland. Eyes squeezed shut, the children pray with a fervor that is incongruous with their innocent stage of life. In both photos, the absence of adult presence is notable, as these pairs of children seemingly navigate emotional terrain together, shoulder-to-shoulder.