Elska, Issue 12 – Brussels, Belgium

Elska is a bi-monthly male photography and culture art-zine on 130 pages of beautifully stroke-able matte paper. Each issue is shot in a different city with men from that city, including not only their photographs but their stories too. It’s a sort of cross between a quasi-intellectual queer pin-up and a sort of sexy anthropology journal.

In this issue:

This edition is dedicated to Brussels, capital of Belgium and capital Europe as well. Known for its mix of cultures and languages (French and Dutch), for its politics, and for its culinary reputation (think fine chocolates, waffles, frites and beer), Brussels is a frequently visited but still underknown city. There’s a lot beneath the surface and beyond the tourist hotspots, which we’ve really tried to discover here.

In order to help us get to know Brussels more deeply, we met fifteen local boys, each of whom you’ll meet in this issue. We photographed them both at home and out in the streets as they showed us around their city. Then each of them also wrote a story for us, enabling you to get to know them on a more intimate level.

Stories from this edition include Jules B’s ‘how I met my boyfriend’ tale; Pierre B’s letter to his father who passed away; Quintin H’s invitation to look inside his autistic mind; Jian Kiang L’s confessional on living a life constantly trying to impress his parents; and Nizo M’s piece about his love of the one and only Madonna.

164 pages, including texts in English, French, and Spanish (followed by English translations)

The print version is A5 (24cm x 14.8cm), full-colour, perfect bound, 130gsm (90lb) matte paper