This week Elska celebrates its nine year anniversary. Over this Rme the project has published forty-seven issues of its flagship indie print ‘bookazine’, each made in a different city and featuring photographs and stories of ordinary members of the local queer community.
“It all started as an experiment,” says Elska editor and chief photographer Liam Campbell. “Back in 2015 I was working as a flight adendant 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. As ridiculous as it may seem in hindsight, I didn’t appreciate that convenRonal noRons of who is beauRful and who is worthy of our adenRon would be so narrow, and so painful to witness in reality. 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,” conRnues 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 beder. I also started making a more concerted effort to promote diversity, which mainly was inspired by negaRve reacRons 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.“
Elska’s roster so far includes issues made in ciRes on every conRnent of the world except AntarcRca, including 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 forty-eighth 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.
“I’m incredibly grateful to have been around this long,” adds Liam. „I understand how rare it is for any arRsRc endeavour to be sustainable and have longevity, so I must give thanks to all the customers and parRcipants over these nine years. I’m also very excited about our future… As we approach the milestone of a fiqieth issue, we will be making some major changes to the project, and we have a very special locaRon chosen for that first issue of the ‘new era’ of Elska.“
Elska print mags are sold in select shops around the world and for order online. Also available are e-mags, signed art prints, annual subscripRons, postcard sets and more. A list of stockists and more informaRon can be found on the Elska website, www.elskamagazine.com.
