Spotlight Elskan no. 377 — Jamin P from Seoul
Due to some sort of inventory error, we recently found out that three issues we previously thought were sold out, including Elska Ekstra Seoul, have a few copies available. So it seemed like a good time to look back at one of our Seoul boys, Jamin P, the guy who made the cover of Elska Ekstra.
I usually try to turn up early for a shoot because I abhor being even a minute late. Of course I'm not going to ring a guy's doorbell early, so usually I'll find a local coffee place to sit in or will take a walk around the neighbourhood. When I went to meet Jamin, it was a branch of Ediya Coffee that was closest, so I parked myself in there, ordered a milk tea, and did some light editing.
By the way, Seoul is full of cafés but Ediya is a really under-the-radar place. They're usually smaller, cheaper, and more present outside the city centre. I got to know Ediya really well during this trip.
Jamin was the OG Elska Seoul boy. He'd become a fan of Elska Magazine early on, and even ordered a bunch of copies for a queer art book fair that went on in Seoul in 2016. So I wasn't surprised that as soon as I got to his place he was digging out all his gay magazines and showing them off to me. This included some Elskas of course, several Japanese porn mags, a few British ones, and an original Butt zine or two. Jamin left me to browse while he poured a whisky, and then we got to work.
Since I don't use artificial light (only natural and available), and my meeting with Jamin was at night, my options were limited. However, I often find the most difficult situations the most exciting. You are forced to rely on your creativity to make it work. Our outdoor session was all done under street-lamps, and our indoor session relied on house-lamps.
Actually I find overhead lighting gross so the smaller the lamp, the better. I was therefore excited to find in Jamin's bedroom a very small lamp, shaped almost like a candle, but a very bright one, and it cast a very orangey glow throughout the room.
That lamp became my inspiration, and with the addition of some good music, we started creating some of my favourite shots of the Seoul series. Especially when Jamin held that lamp with his left hand and his "eumgyeong" with his right. I'd eventually use a crop of one of those pics as the cover for Elska Ekstra Seoul.
It's funny because guys often warn me before a shoot, "My place is really small" or "The lighting is really bad". Usually I simply tell them not to worry, but inside I'm getting giddy, looking forward to what will happen when the creativity beast is lured out. Actually I just did a shoot like this last week in Sydney (Elska Sydney should be out in July, sorry it's a long wait). I'm excited to see the results once editing begins. But let's just say it's a tiny room with a single lamp, and the shadows are insane.
By the way, as I understand, Jamin now lives in Taipei. Coincidentally, I got a request to come back to Taiwan and do another issue. I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not, but do get in touch if you fancy it. I always listen to requests from readers.
Liam Campbell is editor and chief photographer of Elska Magazine, a project about travelling the world, meeting local gay dudes, and helping readers get to know them through personal stories and honest photography.
