Elska is a project centered on traveling the world, meeting a selection of everyday local guys, and introducing their city and lives to readers through honest photography and personal stories. Below, photographer Liam Campbell shares exclusively with GayCities a selection of photos and behind-the-scenes commentary about some of the men he met in Melbourne, Australia, for the latest issue.
Jayke F
My first day in Melbourne didn’t get off to the best start. My first shoot with Jayke happened to be in an outer suburb, taking me an hour and a half from my hotel in the CBD to get there. I had greatly underestimated the size of the city and put too much faith in the city’s public transport, meaning I ended up late for the shoot and half my shoots here (and normally, I’m never ever late). However, Jayke quickly turned my mood around with his easygoing attitude and his offer to drive me back after our shoot so I wouldn’t be late for the next. This kind of relaxed positivity ended up repeating itself from various guys here, and it’s probably my favorite attribute of Australians.
Jayke’s happy-go-lucky vibes continued during our session, which took place in a park near his home. By all appearances, this was just an everyday park, the sort of place where people jogged or walked their dogs. However, barely five minutes after arriving we spotted a mob of kangaroos, and this was the first time I’d ever seen the animal. Talk about a great welcome to Australia! Jayke, however, seemed more impressed with sightings of wombat poos scattered on the ground, which had an amusingly cubic shape.
Jayke’s good humor continued during our home shoot. We did a scene of him tossing around a basketball and then trying to fit it into his shorts. Next, we did a scene of him using a toy sledgehammer to bonk himself and me on the head. For our final scene, he took off his glasses, but instead of placing them out of the scene, he placed them on top of his shaft. It was rather ridiculous, and I am very charmed by the ridiculousness.