BEYOND THE CITY’S POLISHED IMAGE

Milan is famous for fashion. But what does the city look like through the eyes — and lives — of ordinary, local gay men?

That’s the question at the heart of Elska Milan, the 61st edition of the independent gay photography and culture publication Elska. Returning to Italy for its second-ever Italian edition, Elska takes readers beyond the Milan of designer fashion and sophisticated facades to meet the men who actually live there.

For Elska, this means doing what it has always done: looking past the image of a place and towards the people. The project is known for photographing gay men who aren’t professional models, inviting them to share their lives, homes and streets through intimate, including nude, photography.

“Milan has such a particular reputation,” says Elska editor and chief photographer Liam Campbell. “It’s a city that the world associates with beauty, elegance and fashion. We became interested in what would happen if we approached it from the opposite direction — not looking for the most stylish or glamorous men, but simply for people willing to let us into their lives.”

“There’s something particularly fascinating about photographing people in a city so associated with appearance,” continues Campbell. “Fashion is about curating an image of yourself, but I’ve always been more interested in what happens when people let that image drop away. I did things differently here, allowing fashion to play a vital role, but always queering it. Throughout the issue are various ‘Easter eggs’ that are like fashion campaigns that would never actually be green-lit, like the guy who advertises boots by wearing them and nothing else, or like the guy who sells his underwear by not wearing them but rather by hanging them off the end of his cock.”

This edition also marks only the second time Elska has been made as a full collaboration. Campbell shared the work with Milan-based photographer Mauro Padula, with each artist conducting half of the shoots and contributing some of the stories. The combination provides a melding of complementary styles and a contrast of perspectives — one from a local and one from an outsider.

Elska Milan introduces readers to Dano, Berry, Sergio, Davide, Squalo, Federico, Alessandro, and Simone. Most had never stepped in front of a camera before, especially not with their clothes off, providing a sense of vulnerability that is central to Elska. Every subject is also accompanied by a personal story, with texts written variously by Campbell, Padula and the men themselves. Together, the photographs and stories bring you close to these men and to everyday gay life in contemporary Milan.

Elska Milan is available now from elskamagazine.com as well as from a select group of indie bookshops around the world. Also available now is the companion zine Ekstra Milan, including hundreds of pages of additional photographs and behind-the-scenes stories, plus an additional Milanese subject and two men from a side-trip to Nicosia, Cyprus.