elska magazine #01 - LVIV ukraine

This edition is dedicated to Lviv, Ukraine's gorgeous and under-discovered cultural capital. The city will come as a bit of a shock if you've spent time in any other Ukrainian city, as Lviv wears the scars of post-Soviet breakdown with particular elegance. And the people are as stunning as the setting. 

We met thirteen local boys this time, including Marko K. in an abandoned factory; Semen M. in the beautiful cobbled old town; Ivan T. walking into the fountain in front of the opera house; the talented painter Eugen K. at his home; and the intimidatingly intellectual poet Taras D. in a disused military mess hall.

*Full disclosure... Elska Lviv was our first issue, made when Elska was just a budding idea, and therefore it is a bit rough around the edges, like the city of Lviv itself. It's smaller, has less stories, and is a bit unpolished, but also like Lviv, it's rather charming. And it's also an interesting look at how Elska started, but is not a good example of what other Elska issues are like, so we don't recommend this as your first Elska order.

Features images of / stories from: Marko K, Sasha M, Rica S, Andriy M, Nikita G, Eugen K, Semen M, Dima S, Taras D, Vyacheslav K, Oleg B, Ivan T, and Sasha K.

Details and Specs:

Elska Lviv is 140 pages, including texts in English and Ukrainian (with English translations).

The print version is A5 (24cm x 14.8cm / 5.8 x 8.3 in), full-colour, perfect bound, and on 130gsm (90lb) matte paper. One random Elska Collectors' Postcard is inserted inside.