[PHOTOS] Meet the gorgeous, bold and joyful men of Mexico City

Photographer Liam Campbell shares exclusively with GayCities a selection of photos and behind-the-scenes commentary about some of the men he met in Mexico City.

Jorge Fernando G

My time with Jorge Fernando was full of unforgettable little moments. My first impression was dominated by the loud barking of his dog, who came rushing out of his apartment and down the stairs of his building to scope me out. The next was Jorge Fernando’s lesson on how to calm a big dog down — by speaking softly and offering a hand to sniff and pet.

Then I saw a beautiful flat, impeccably decorated and full of books and fashion magazines, including a copy of Elska. And then there was a scolding overheard from Jorge Fernando’s partner, chastising him for not offering me a drink and a slice of flan. Or, at least I think that’s what they were saying. 

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Once the photoshoot began, the moments kept coming. Outside, when the rain began pouring, a random neighbourhood friend spotted us and offered Jorge Fernando his umbrella because it would be more whimsical for a photoshoot than the simple black one he had. Or when, just to add a little humour to the torrential scene, he pulled down his trousers in the middle of the road. And inside, when I asked if he could keep our humorous vibe going, he borrowed a cartoonish onesie from his partner that was so tight I had to struggle to stretch it over every contour of his body.

And then, getting funnier still, he decided to demonstrate his tolerance for chilli by licking some Valentina salsa off his hand. And when he stripped off in the kitchen and used various utensils, one at a time, to poke and prod at his body parts.

Everything about Jorge Fernando was just fun. That spirit carried on throughout my trip to Mexico City and with the other men I met there. For me, Mexico City now means humour, audaciousness and joy! And I’m so proud to show it in my latest book.

Alfonso T

Since the start of 2025, I’ve been making each Elska book in a very spontaneous way. In the past, I used to plan each issue far in advance, searching for participants around a month before arriving in a city, asking them to write a story to help me get to know them, and then basically micro-managing every aspect of our upcoming photoshoot. However, when I decided to make an issue in Odesa, Ukraine, last year, I knew that I couldn’t plan for a place like that. Instead, I went to the city without any contacts or ideas. I just arrived, searched for local guys online, and met whoever happened to come into my radar. I found this way of working so exciting and inspiring that I decided to do that for all future Elska books. 

In Mexico City, however, I broke my new rule. I was aware of Alfonso before coming because he’d been a reader of Elska for a long time, and I remembered that he had an address in Mexico City because every time I release a new issue, I recognise it when sending books to my supporters on Patreon. Even though I wanted to be spontaneous with Mexico City, it simply would have been rude not to ask Alfonso if he wanted to be part of it. And happily, he agreed.

I quickly realised that Alfonso was worth breaking my new rule. Although the time and date had been fixed in advance, everything else about our shoot was spontaneous. Like when he started our session by inviting me to meet him at a local market. And when he forced me to sing along with him to the Spanish gay anthem “A Quien Le Importa,” which was blasting out of a little party supplies shop we posted in front of. And when he randomly bought a plastic Day of the Dead-style mask to use for our indoor scenes (and then used it in a very provocative and outrageous way!). And when he revealed a wacky and somewhat acrobatic streak on a random swivel chair that sat in a lonely patch of his studio. With Alfonso, I made yet more memorable Mexican moments, making this city synonymous with joy for me.

Ángel M

I have a sort of Latin American guardian angel named Juan. I met him during my first trip to South America (for the making of Elska Bogotá), where he took part in that issue. For every Latin American issue I’ve encountered since then, I’ve contacted Juan to ask if he happened to know anyone in the city.

Although this kind of question is a long shot, given how huge the region is, Juan answered my call every single time. In Guadalajara, São Paulo and Buenos Aires, he had a friend to put me in touch with, and that friend ended up in that Elska issue. And now here in Mexico City, he sent Ángel to me, a guy he almost dated back home in Bogotá before he moved to CDMX to do post-graduate work at a Mexican university. 

The funny thing about Ángel is that he tried to hide his Colombian heritage when we met. During a chat in the taxi between our outdoor and indoor shoots, I asked him something about Mexican cuisine. When he couldn’t answer it, he apologised profusely and admitted that he wasn’t Mexican. I guess he thought that I only wanted Mexican citizens for my Elska project and that I’d put an end to our shoot once I found out. I told him that everyone is welcome to be in Elska as long as they live in the city I’m featuring, regardless of where they were born or their ethnic origin.

Ultimately, of the twelve men I met through Elska Mexico City, ten were born-and-bred Mexicans. As for the two others, they both happened to be Colombian: That’s Ángel and a guy named Sebastián.

Victor V

It’s difficult for me to put into words just how much I enjoyed my time with Ángel. He was kind, intelligent and quirky — all qualities I love — but the thing that really made me crush on him was his gentleness. He was forever patting me on the arm when he’d tell me a joke, or taking me by the hand to lead me across a busy road, or even sitting a little too close to me in the taxi. None of this was flirting, I’m sure of that, he’s just a warm and tactile person. He made me so comfortable that I wanted our shoot to go on and on, even if that meant cancelling the shoot that I had scheduled after him.

Ultimately, my sense of responsibility won, and I said goodbye to Ángel. I left it so late that I had to rush to make it on time for my shoot with Victor. Because of this, and because I was already missing Ángel, I arrived with Victor feeling anxious and a bit down. As reluctant as I am to admit this, I let my mood harm our shoot. As we walked around the Zona Rosa district (the historic centre of LGBTQ+ Mexico City), I rushed him, both by taking fewer photos than I usually would and by not really engaging with his conversation. 

Fortunately, he eventually started to win me over. His enthusiasm for our shoot was palpable — seeing how much he enjoyed being a ‘model’ was charming. And that enjoyment only grew when we went back to his place for part two of our shoot. He was very quick to strip off, wanting to complement his fashion-style outdoor poses with sexy boudoir-style indoor poses. While a part of me was still missing Ángel, Victor was gradually making me forget about him!

Jalil M

Despite being a crowded, hectic, and often difficult city, all the men I met in Mexico City somehow seemed relaxed and upbeat. At times, the city stressed me out, but the men I met here all lifted me up and calmed me down. And no one did that better than Jalil. 

Our meeting started with his invitation to treat me to breakfast at a restaurant run by a friend of his. This was a kind gesture, but it initially made me anxious. The menu of this place was baffling, not because I couldn’t read Spanish (I can), but because the items were all totally unfamiliar. Mexican cuisine is certainly much more than what ends up in restaurants around the world, but this particular restaurant seemed especially ‘exotic’ to me because it specialised in old recipes using indigenous ingredients. This confusion about the menu was compounded by certain issues I have with eating in front of strangers. Not only was I feeling stressed, but I was also feeling embarrassed.

Jalil had this innate quality of seeing me, treating me with patience, and accepting me without judgment. As much as I was discovering that Mexico City men were open-minded in front of my camera, I was also realising how understanding and empathetic they were. A situation that could have been so uncomfortable was made OK because of Jalil’s energy. I knew that if somehow I ended up living here, he’d be my first new friend. I’d be relying on him a lot, and I know he’d help me without complaint.

Ray M

One of the moments of spontaneity that I find so exciting about making Elska was exemplified by Ray. I was having a coffee and a snack in a little café in the Roma district whilst waiting for my next ‘model’ to arrive. Then, exactly at our meeting time of 6 pm, I had a sense of impending doom. I felt certain that this next guy was going to stand me up. I was so sure, in fact, that I didn’t bother to wait beyond five minutes, let alone to message him again. Instead, I turned on Grindr and, within two minutes, got a message from a guy named Ray. 

Ray was less than a hundred metres away. He sent me an “Hola” along with a few pics. I asked him if he wanted to do a photoshoot. It must have seemed insanely out of the blue, but he agreed. Within five minutes, we were together, and my camera was already clicking away. In the end, I discovered that I had indeed been stood up, but I was glad. If it wasn’t for that, I never would have met Ray. I can’t imagine my CDMX series without him now.

Ray is a perfect example of how open-minded and down-for-whatever Mexicans are! He also adds an incredibly sexy chapter to a book with rather a lot of sexy chapters. In fact, this issue is only the second in my almost-ten-year history where every single one of the men who took part chose to bare all in their photoshoots. (The other was Elska Melbourne).

The new book, ‘Elska Mexico City’, is available in print and electronic formats. A companion e-zine called ‘Elska Ekstra Mexico City‘ is also available and contains three additional chapters and hundreds of pages of bonus outtakes, behind-the-scenes tales, and other bonus features.

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