Elska: 10 intimate images of handsome LGBTQ guys and allies from around the world
As the queer travel zine turns nine, editor Liam Campbell reflects on the story so far
Where do the years go – this week, queer travel zine Elska turns nine! Over its near-decade on the shelves, 47 issues, each made in a different city and featuring photographs and stories of ordinary members of the local queer community, have been made.
“It all started as an experiment,” says Elska editor and chief photographer Liam Campbell. “Back in 2015 I was working as a flight attendant and doing a side-hustle as a photographer, hoping to break into fashion. However, the more gigs I got, the more I became disheartened by the lack of dignity offered to the photographers, crew, and especially the models.”
Elska’s roster so far includes issues made in cities on every continent of the world except Antarctica.
These include Reykjavík (Iceland), Tbilisi (Georgia), Bogotá (Colombia), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Cape Town (South Africa), Belfast (Northern Ireland), Seoul (Korea), Casablanca (Morocco), Montréal (Québec), São Paulo (Brazil), and Almaty (Kazakhstan). Coming in September will be the 48th issue, made in Melbourne, Australia.
When combined, a total of 775 different subjects have taken part in for Elska, each photographed on their city’s streets and in their homes, and each published with an accompanying story.
“Exposure can erode people’s ‘preferences’ and prejudices” – Elska editor Liam Campbell
“As ridiculous as it may seem in hindsight, I didn’t appreciate that conventional notions of who is beautiful and who is worthy of our attention would be so narrow, and so painful to witness in reality,” continues Liam.
“So I started doing photoshoots of random people I met during my cabin crew layovers, just ordinary, usually queer men, and I found this to be much more fulfilling, especially since I placed no criteria on who I’d allow in front of my lens.
“Soon I had the idea to turn this habit into an indie magazine concept, so I booked a trip to Lviv, Ukraine, met some random local boys, photographed them, put a few stories together, and published everything into what would become the first issue of Elska.”
“As Elska developed I made various tweaks,” continues Liam. “First, I had the idea to invite the men I photographed to write a story, just something true from their lives to help get to know them better. I also started making a more concerted effort to promote diversity, which mainly was inspired by negative reactions from the public about the diversity I’d published so far.
“For example, when we received complaints about subjects they deemed ‘too fat’ or ‘too old’ or ‘too fem’ or basically anything other white; it only spurred me on, driven by a genuine belief that exposure can erode people’s ‘preferences’ and prejudices.”
“I’m incredibly grateful to have been around this long,” adds Liam. “I understand how rare it is for any artistic endeavour to be sustainable and have longevity, so I must give thanks to all the customers and participants over these nine years. I’m also very excited about our future…
“As we approach the milestone of a 50th issue, we will be making some major changes to the project. And we have a very special location chosen for that first issue of the ‘new era’ of Elska.”
Congrats all!