A look back at the first Elska issue, made in Lviv, Ukraine
After over three years of making Elska Magazine in various cities all over the world, we're about to enter a new phase, with a bigger and more beautiful format launching later this month. I noticed this morning that there’s only one copy of our very first issue — Elska Lviv — left for sale. So I felt it was a good time to look back at some of the good and bad surrounding that first Elska release.
In the beginning Elska was just an experiment. Frustrated with the creative rigidity of mainstream photography work, and jealous of photoartists with their own published books out, I decided to try making something of my own. I booked a trip to Lviv, Ukraine (simply because I just always wanted to go there and because it was cheap). Then I started messaging strangers on random apps to invite them to do a photoshoot. Several were into the idea, and so we met and shot. Then, with no publishing or graphic design experience, I threw together an issue.
The result worked, or well, it kind of worked. Like perhaps any first issue of a new publication, there were some wonky bits. The original pressing had a slightly misaligned cover, the internal font was a bit tricky to read (especially the Cyrillic texts) and I got the bleed wrong, meaning that a few heads got chopped off!
We also had some problems with early reactions, both from readers and from the Ukrainian subjects. Some initial readers just didn't get it. They complained that some of the participants weren't 'hot enough', as if they were expecting professional models or as if these men were meant to be judges as if part of a beauty pageant at all. As for the Ukrainians, some were upset that the issue got so much press in gay media.
Admittedly the original idea was that anyone could take part, regardless of sexuality. However it turned out that most participants were gay and perhaps 90% of customers were gay, turning Elska into a de facto gay publication. The biggest problem for the Ukrainians was that a large amount of press about them was in LGBTQ media. For those who wished to stay discreet in order to avoid homophobia at home, seeing their images on the pages of 'official' gay media upset them, and that upset me. It wasn't my fault really, but I made sure in future to tell any prospective Elska participant that being in Elska would probably make people assume that they were gay. However, eventually I came to stop being ambiguous at all and tend to now explicitly refer to Elska as a gay or queer project.
Despite the early problems, I so loved the concept that I quickly shrugged it off and got to work on the next issue (Elska Berlin). I learned to be less sensitive and also got more skilled at the craft. Over time the issues got better. The design improved dramatically, the size grew, and we included more stories (which numbered only a few in the first issue). We also managed to start selling enough copies to fund trips beyond Europe, starting with an issue in Asia (Elska Taipei), then America (Elska Toronto), and eventually got to all continents (except Antarctica)! We also are now able invest in the improvement of our publication, the results of which will be seen in around a fortnight with the release of our twenty-second issue, Elska Stockholm.
Liam Campbell is editor and chief photographer of Elska Magazine. Originally from London, he now lives in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
