PHOTOS: Up close with the men of gay Bern, Switzerland
Liam Campbell is an editor and photographer for Indie Print magazine, Elsa, a project about traveling the world, meeting some local gay guys and introducing them and their city to the readers through candid photography and personal stories. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!
The latest documents a trip to Bern in Switzerland.
Below, Liam shares a selection of photos exclusively with GayCities along with a little behind-the-scenes commentary on each.
Féries A
Bern is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. It has the old-world charm of places like Lisbon and Stockholm, but without the sand beneath the surface. To be honest, Switzerland seems so perfect that I was uncomfortable at first. Having just arrived from a long flight, I felt like it wasn’t worth walking the manicured streets. One of those moments was filming Fériès A in the UNESCO-protected film Old Town.
After my jaw kept dropping at the prospects, he then invited me over and my jaw dropped. His beautiful apartment with huge windows, blooming tropical plants and the most amazing fireplace pissed me off so much that I asked rudely, “Why are the Swiss so rich?!”
Luckily he laughed at me gaffe and replied that he was grateful to live there. He told me that there was nothing unusual, that it was a pretty average apartment for Switzerland. Luckily, by the end of my trip I was feeling less intimidated by Swiss standards and increasingly jealous.
Fabian J
Aside from overcoming my own issues of not being worthy of the wonderfulness of Switzerland, the main issue I had with making Elska in Bern was that the locals tended to be rather reserved, even conservative.
In fact, when I first announced the trip, a lot of people contacted me and agreed to take part. But then when I sent them the full details, one by one, they all ghosted. It actually became such a problem that I considered canceling the project, but then I decided to just ask one of the guys who were ghosting me what the problem was and see if I could fix something.
Apparently, locals were put off by the instructional email I sent, particularly the part that included the phrase “Indoor photo shoots may include lingerie, partial nudes, and nudes.” Even though I wrote “may contain,” people found the mere idea of nudity too scary to even consider. I decided to contact everyone again and clarify that nudity is not a requirement and mention that some Elska editions contain very little nudity.
I’m happy to say that reassurance worked. My schedule filled up and I was ready for my journey. Then something unexpected happened. A lot of the guys I met in Bern decided to pose naked anyway.
Fabian J was probably the bravest guy I met in Bern. Despite his own early worries, he finally undressed outside in a small wooded area behind the Europlatz train station. I put a picture of him, including his cheeky smile, on the back cover Elsa Bern Output.
Marco R
Aside from asking personal questions about income or putting people off with nudity, my biggest blunder was when I met Marco R. We were preparing to start shooting, which took place outdoors cooker park, and I noticed this string hanging out the bottom of his shirt. Assuming it was a headphone cord, I asked him to remove it, assuming it would be a distraction, just like a cell phone or a fat wallet in your pocket is a photographic error.
Quite casually, he said he didn’t mind taking it out, but added that he could only remove it for a little while. I was confused. After some back and forth I figured out my mistake – this string was actually an insulin pump for type 1 diabetes. When I finally understood, I insisted that he keep it on as long as he didn’t mind showing Elska.
RELATED: This Swiss Riviera happening is the best carnival you’ve never heard of
Damien W
Most of my shoots took place near the city center of Bern, but one guy, Damian W, lived on the outskirts of Canton Bern, in Emmental. I wasn’t familiar with the region although I love the cheese. As it turns out, Damian had planned to surprise me with something cheesy for my visit, partly to thank me for making the long journey to see him. We should treat ourselves to one of the most popular winter dishes in Switzerland, Raclette. Embarrassingly, I’ve always had quite a cheese phobia, so I made the excuse that I was too busy to stay (sorry, Damian).
Even without our cheesy meal we had a lovely shoot together and after leaving his apartment I went to his nearest train station to go back into town. Something seemed to be going on, the station was completely empty. Just when Damian was starting to feel really confused, he appeared at the platform. He felt I couldn’t understand the ways of rural Swiss trains. Trains only stop at stations like this if you press a small red button on a small stand. Since the trains here only run once an hour anyway, I could have been there all night if he hadn’t shown me this button. It was so nice of him to help and even nicer that he waited with me for half an hour for my train to come and just chatted.
In hindsight I probably should have tried the raclette, now I feel guilty. Next time!
Julien J
My regular readers will know that I’m a shy guy, but something about Julien made me shyer than usual.
We had a really nice shoot together along the River Aare, Bern’s bright blue waterway and bathing spot in the summer months. Even during our shoot, which took place on a rather cold day, we saw a woman swimming in freezing water! Julien was rather quiet and a little awkward, but I just assumed that was normal Swiss restraint.
However, once we started the indoor portion of the photoshoot, it became a lot heavier for Julien, and he revealed his struggles with confidence. Once again I met another gorgeous man who didn’t feel good enough and it was devastating to see.
I wanted to prove to him that beauty has nothing to do with perfection, not even in almost perfect Switzerland. But at that moment I felt sorry for him. I wanted to tell Julien he was beautiful, reassure him, but I felt like embarrassing him.
So I left without tea and biscuits, thinking he’d rather be alone. We’ve kept in touch and he’s fine; it is another reason to come back to Switzerland and accept this offer.
Dominik N & Noah H
One of my favorite aspects of Elska Magazine is the stories each of the men I photograph write for the issues. I always instruct her to write about absolutely anything as long as it’s authentic and to avoid writing a standard autobiography. Sometimes this lack of specific guidelines scares people. It really sparked a creative genius in Noah and Dominic.
Since they’re a couple, I told them they could either write two separate stories or work on one together. They decided to each write a separate text on the same topic: a weekend when Dominic returned from military service to visit Noah.
I don’t want to give too much away, but it was fascinating to read two perspectives on the exact same incident. It also proves the importance of listening to each other and recognizing that there are always two sides to every story. These two seemed such a happy couple, and their story gives some clues as to why.
Elsa Bern is now available in a limited print version or in an e-version. An accompanying zine Elska Ekstra Bern is also available with outtakes, behind-the-scenes stories, extra boys and extra stories.
RELATED: Meet the Men of Atlanta – Black Gay Capital of America