Ice men cometh

Since 2015, writer/photographer Liam Campbell has created and published Elska, a beautiful, body-positive magazine, each issue of which features intimate, expressive photo essays about gay men from a different city in the world. From Kuala Lumpur, to Warsaw, to Lyon, to Pittsburgh, Campbell avoids gay clichés, in both his choice of locales and style of por-traiture (which isn’t to say there’s a shortage of nudes). In his delightfully straightforward first book, Campbell shares a solo trip to his own favorite travel destination, Iceland, where he revels in the country’s avid national pastime of gathering at public pools and hot tubs. There’s an affable erot-icism to Campbell’s diary-like chapters, but his voice and images are re-freshingly lacking in the luric and utterly engaging. Campbell indirectly suggests that he may have Asperger’s syndrome or a related spectrum disorder, referring to a pressing need to quell the build-up of anxiety and his “special brain”. His clear-eyed perspective is special indeed and his book provides a lovely philosophical framework for anyone seeking a re-storative, low-key vacation.