Perth man Jason, as featured in the latest issue of Elska (Photo: Elska)
Bi-monthly magazine Elska has just unveiled its latest edition. Launched in 2016, every issue features photographs of men in a specific city and country.
Previous issues have featured the men of Cape Town in South Africa, Bogota in Colombia, Haifa in Israel and Mumbai in India, among others.
The latest issue is the first to feature the men of Australia. As always, there’s a diverse mix of guys.
‘We chose to give Perth some love’
Founder and editor Liam Campbell told GSN, ‘Ever since Elska began, people were requesting that we come to Australia. Finally, after 16 issues in 16 cities, we decided to finally head Down Under, but instead of a more obvious choice like Sydney or Melbourne, we chose to give Perth some love.
He says the choice of Perth was partly to confound stereotypes.
‘A big part of why we decided on Perth as our Aussie city of choice was that lots of Australians referred to it as “the most boring city in the world.” But that made us want to choose it more, to prove them wrong. In the end, we were never bored by Perth.’
‘Everyone seemed so happy’
‘One of the most interesting aspects of Elska is seeing the little differences between cities,’ says Campbell. ‘These differences are revealed partly through architecture, landscape, the style of clothes and hairstyles worn by the locals, and just the way the men carry themselves, all of which are conveyed by the images we publish.
‘In Perth what really stood out was that everyone seemed so happy, happier than in any city we’ve been to yet. That’s why we thought it appropriate to put someone on the cover who was smiling, and it’s our first cover with a smile.’
Campbell thinks that the men of Perth may be happy for one specific reason.
‘Another way that readers get to know a city and the men featured in Elska is through the stories that the guys write. Topics always vary, but some cities tend to produce more of one particular topic.
‘For example, Elska Haifa and Elska Cape Town discussed racism a good deal, and Elska Cardiff (which was shot right after the Brexit vote) discussed politics a a lot. In Perth, the most common story topic turned out to be sex. Maybe that’s why they all seem so happy there!’
He says Elska Perth is the bookazine’s biggest issue yet – with 17 guys and their stories featured over 176 pages. There’s also a companion e-zine, Elska Ekstra, featuring a further five guys.
To see a list of where Elska Magazine is sold around the world or to order a copy online, visit elskamagazine.com.
See more images below
See also
12 beautiful gay and gay-friendly guys from Cape Town (NSFW)