SOMETIMES FASHION IS JUST CLOTH, NOT CLOTHES… WITH KAMAL B

First off, I should be clear that whatever Elska Magazine is, it is not a fashion magazine. That’s not to say that we don’t care about style, cos we really really do, but only insofar as that style is a key component in the cornucopia of ingredients that constitutes culture. I love an editorial, and those spreads from Italian Vogue through to Boys by Girls are hugely inspirational. But we should be clear that Elska is telling stories, not selling stories.

Ultimately we want you to get to know who our models are as people, not as mannequins. But does it even matter who or what they’re wearing? Well yes, because fashion is at best an expression of one’s personality, an outward portrayal of their inside. But sometimes fashion is just cloth wrapped around a body to preserve warmth and keep out the rain.

Sometimes one’s wardrobe is but a suitcase full of hoodies and jeans from Primark (no disrespect meant) that were bought simply because the person just arrived in a country and didn’t have the sort of budget or time to consider what would suit them. Or maybe their clothes were bought by their mum and based on her tastes and personality, not those of her son.

Whatever the reasons behind it all, sometimes a person just looks awkward in their own clothes. And with Kamal B., a Nepalese man who’d just moved to London, his clothes somehow didn’t suit the man who I was sat in a kitchen drinking tea with. He was sweet, well-spoken, warm-hearted and a bit vulnerable. His “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content” t-shirt didn’t make sense to me. So I asked him to take his clothes off and we shot him assis sur son lit, le bleu dans le gris*.

Clothes, particularly his clothes, would have been a distraction. You can see who this man is in this picture, naked. There is nothing else required.

Elska Boy: Kamal B

Photographer: Liam Campbell

Location: London, England

Elska Magazine: N/A

#LondonEngland