Noting the Value of Gay White Bodies… and choosing not to give people what they want

A collage of various issues of Elska Magazine

This month I am celebrating seven years of my Elska project. During this time I've visited thirty-eight cities all over the world, met and photographed over six hundred men, and have published their images and stories in thirty-eight lovely little bookazines that I call Elska Magazine.

When I started Elska my goal was partly self-indulgent — to find a way to fund my two big passions, travel and photography. But I also had another goal, which was to prove to people that it's stupid to cling to the idea of having a 'type', that if you open yourselves to different kinds of people then the narrowness of such standards erode. I could use Elska to present a diverse group of ordinary men in a way that depicted them as just as beautiful, sexy, and compelling as the sort of men we typically see in mainstream gay media. And gradually with this exposure, people would start to come to my point of view.

An image of Jason C, who appears in Elska Belfast (Northern Ireland)

To achieve my goals, I'd make sure to visit a variety of geographic locations, not just the big gay meccas of the West. And then I'd visit some of those expected places too, but I'd make sure that anyone was welcome to take…