Travel the world with 14 portraits of 'beautifully ordinary' men

This week Elska celebrates its 10-year anniversary. During this time, the project has published over 50 issues, spotlighting local men from LGBTQ+ communities around the world. To commemorate this milestone, a print publication titled Ten Years of Elska: Special Retrospective has been released. Inside, a collection of Elska's favorite stories and portraits has been selected.

Matt M., Belfast, Northern Ireland, Issue #31

The compendium reflects Elska’s celebration of honesty and diversity. Instead of models or celebrities, the men featured are beautifully ordinary and appealingly imperfect. And instead of highly edited and polished writing, the texts are real, raw and sometimes random. Alongside tales of coming out in a Mormon town or falling in love on a road trip through Ukraine are a frank account of gender transition, a diatribe against homophobic society in Northern Ireland and even a lusty poem about foreskins.

Ekin K. & Emrullah T., Istanbul, Turkey, Issue #6

“When I originally started Elska, my goal was simply to combine my love of travel, photography and men” says Elska editor and chief photographer Liam Campbell. “For the first issue, I flew to Lviv, Ukraine and hoped to meet three or four local guys who I would photograph in the city and then publish some sort of little staple-bound zine. But everything just sort of exploded. I actually met 12 guys there and I ended up doing at-home nude portraits as well as vaguely editorial-style street shoots. Because of all this extra content, I had to expand my project into something more like a book. And then I had the idea to include stories, both my own chronicles about my journeys as well as stories contributed by the men I met, which made the publication grow even larger.”

Emmett C.R., San, Francisco, CA, USA, Issue# 41

“I am immensely grateful that Elska resonated so well, which has enabled me to keep going for all these years,” continues Liam. “I am also proud that I’ve been able to do my work in my own way, publishing real rather than sensational stories and presenting images of regular people rather than those who fit within the confines of conventional beauty standards. I’ve always found ordinary people more compelling, and I’m glad, as well as a little surprised, that so many others share my perspective. Because of them, I’ve been able to take my project to over 50 cities around the world so far.”

Jay E., Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, Issue #49

Elska's roster includes books made in well-known and lesser-known places, as well as in gay-friendly and not so gay-friendly societies. Cities on every continent of the world except Antarctica have been featured, including: Odesa (Ukraine), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Chisinau (Moldova), Taipei (Taiwan), Tbilisi (Georgia), San Francisco (California), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Cape Town (South Africa), Melbourne (Australia) and Dhaka (Bangladesh). When combined, a total of 827 different men have taken part in for Elska, and many more are on the way.

Shaman E., Dhaka, Bangladesh, Issue #23

Elska print books, including the new Ten Years of Elska: Special Retrospective are sold in select shops around the world and for order online. Also available are e-books, art prints, postcard sets and annual subscriptions, which include six books per year. More information can be found on the Elska website, elskamagazine.com.

Faraz A., Mumbai, India, Issue #10

See more of Elska's men of the world ahead.

Yevhenii P., Odesa, Ukraine, Issue #50

Nicholas S., Almaty, Kazakhstan, Issue #42

Bruno V., Sao Paulo, Brazil, Issue #33

John H., Melbourne, Australia, Issue #48

Alonso R.L. & Juanmanuel E.B., Madrid, Spain, Issue #46

Romero C., BuenosAires, Argentina, Issue #51

Sasha K., Lviv, Ukraine, Issue #1