X (Adult) Elska Magazine: Milan Italy Issue 61

Welcome to the 61st issue of Elska, made in Milan, marking our second-ever Italian issue. It’s also our second-ever fully collaborative issue, made by Liam Campbell and Mauro Padula. The two artists shared the work between them, each conducting half of the photoshoots, including one subject who they both photographed.

We chose Milan in large part because of its rather particular sort of fame. Known around the world as a city of beauty, sophistication and fashion, we were intrigued by what would happen when viewing it through Elska’s lens — one that has always been more interested in ordinary lives, human connection and the beauty of imperfection. Behind every famous city are countless individual lives, and we wanted to bring some of those lives to the surface, beyond the polished version of Milan that is so often presented to the world.

Inside the issue, you can get to know a cross-section of everyday men from the city, introduced through intimate and honest photography. As always, our subjects aren’t professional models. They’re ordinary men who agreed to let us into their worlds — and to take their clothes off for us too. Some were experienced in front of a camera, while others had never done anything like this before. That mixture of confidence and vulnerability is part of what makes an Elska shoot what it is: an opportunity to see people as they really are, rather than as they might appear in a fashion photograph.

You can also get to know these men through personal storytelling, with every subject accompanied by a text — some written by Liam or Mauro, and some written by the men themselves. Together, the photographs and stories bring you closer to their lives, personalities and voices, making Elska Milan a properly immersive experience.

Elska Milan features nine chapters and the following local elskans: Dano Hansen, Berry, Sergio Interdonato, Davide Z, Squalo, Federico S, Alessandro Florio, and Simone D.