Elska, a project dedicated to sharing the bodies and voices of queer men worldwide, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. Throughout its existence, the project has published over 50 editions, travelling to cities on almost every continent across the globe.

A total of 827 different men have taken part in Elska so far, hailing from Ukraine, Argentina, Moldova, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Ireland and beyond. The participants are not models or celebrities, but rather beautifully ordinary people who are appealingly imperfect. What’s more, instead of highly-edited and polished writing, they share real, raw and sometimes random texts, whether it be tales of coming out in a Mormon town, accounts of gender transition, or even a lusty poem about foreskins!

To mark the milestone anniversary, a print publication titled Ten Years of Elska: Special Retrospective has been released. It features some of the best stories and portraits from the last decade, reflecting the project’s ongoing celebration of honesty and diversity.

“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 twelve 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.”

Campbell added, “I am immensely grateful that Elska resonated so well, which has enabled me to keep going for all these years… 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 fifty cities around the world so far.”

Elska print books, including the special 10-year edition, are available in select shops around the world and for order online. More information can be found here.

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