THE MENS ISSUE

THE MENS ISSUE 2 0 1 9

FEATURES GUEST EDITOR - Aaron Mark @aaronmarkstylist H O T MESS - Photographer: Aaron Williams, Model: Scott J Campbell BOYS D O N T CRY - Photographer: Chloe Maylor, Male Model: Nathan Maillard for Reel Management, Wardrobe Stylist: Leandra Palmer, Makeup Artist: Jess Kordecki, Retoucher: Gary Woods D I V E R G E N T - Photographer: Vic Schwarz, Male Model: Paul Winkler make-up IS FOR e v e r y o n e - Photographer/Retoucher: Yuliya Osipenko, Model: Pavel Rob for WMM Models, Makeup Artist: Anastasiya Shustova S H H H - Photographer: Diana Bagi, Model: Igor Yaskevich defenceLESS - Photographer: Viktor Nikulin, Model: Ivan Kadigrob T H E LONELY B O Y - Photographer: Enzo Romero, Model: Adam Lux MISSING YOU SO MUCH - Photographer: Mark Paterson A L O N E - Photographer: Victoria D’Agostino, Male Model: Juani Dandres, Assistant: Luisina Guffanti THE B U T T E R F L Y EFFECT - Photographers: Jaye Karl & Taylor Cready, Model & Stylist: Andre Rice, Makeup Artists: Kierre Smith & Tralee Stack C H I L D HOOD - Photographer: Mikael Katz, Male Model: Il’ya BLOOMING Y O U T H - Photographer: Ayman Dayrabaeva, Model: Erkn Mendygulov WR E C K LESS - Photographer: Natalie Lloyd, Model: Leo Jonah for Profile Model Management, Stylist: Dahlia Ichaou GENDER & MENTAL HEALTH by Ben Pechey DISTURB - Photographer: Jaime Pérez Perpiñá, Model: Isaac Orozco for Trend Models, Stylist: Lu Boild M O T I O N - Photographer: Ridy Kanda Batupendi, Model: Glad B R O K E N - Photographer: Alexander Mosher Esper, Male Model: Francis Amor for Q Management d o s t o e v s k y - Photographers: Maria Klevenskaya & Viktor Nikulin, Model/Hair Stylist: Ivan Lukyanov THE S H A W S H A N K - Photographer: Nicole Anthony, Male Models: Matt Anderson & Xavier Small both for JE Model Management, Wardrobe Stylist: Nadia Dadkhah, Hair Stylist: Briana Nicole Gamo, Makeup Artist: Sofia Rothschild, Other: Pia Haro

******************* THIS ISSUE IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF COVER MODEL SCOTT J CAMPBELL, AND TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN LOST TOO SOON ******************

MOVEMBER IS BACK! 1ST NOV - 30TH NOV

With 3 out of 4 suicides by men, mens mental health is more important than ever. Movember which is now in it’s 12th year in the UK bring awareness to mens mental health by encouraging men to grow out their moustaches throughout the month of November. To date, through moustaches being grown, Movember has helped fund 1250 innovative mens mental health projects across 20 countries.

There are many ways to get involved, so head over to movember.com to find out more

FEELING ALONE? STRUGGLING TO COPE? IF YOU NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO, PLEASE CONTACT THE SAMARITANS FOR FREE

EDITORS LETTER M

ental Health isn’t something new, it’s always been there, it’s just that there is finally more focus on it nowadays to try and shed light on how important it is and how everyone at some point or another can be impacted both negatively and positively by mental health.

In short, when you feel good and everything is going right, then you feel on top of the world, and this is your mental health on top form, think about your first crush, and the feelings of butterflies when you would see them. On the reverse of that though, if it all get’s a bit too much, your mental health can take a turn for the worse and make you feel like you’re drowning, you lose drive and ambition, in some cases you can feel like ending it all.

I am not a mental health expert, but when Daina (Editor in Chief of Feroce Magazine) asked me to Guest Edit this special Mens Issue of the magazine with it’s focus on mens mental health, I couldn’t say no. I wanted to explore other peoples stories, and discover new ways of supporting one another through difficult times.

One of the things I have found that has helped me over the years, is to talk about how I’m feeling and my experiences so that I can hear how other people respond to my thought processes. It is with this in mind, that I’m going to share with you my personal journey with mental health in the hope that you can take some of my experiences away with you and hopefully you may seek comfort in knowing that you are not alone out there.

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guess my journey really started when I was in my mid-teens, I was struggling to come to terms with my sexuality, not because I wasn’t happy about being gay, but because people seemed to target me as a vessel for their pain and frustration and so I felt I was being singled out for what my heart was telling me to do. I guess to some degree this feeling still lies buried within me even today, I worry that people won’t understand me or they will laugh at me for being too camp, too femme, too fat, too gay, the list goes on. I’ve been verbally and physically abused throughout my child and adult life, mainly by people I have never met before, some from within the gay community itself because they seem to have a hierarchy system that goes against all their inclusivity beliefs (we won’t quite get into that in this article) some just from passers by (mainly what I call elitist straight men), and this won’t always leave a physical mark (although it can in some cases), but it seems to scar my mind worst of all. I can still hear their voices, the comments, over and over again in my head, and I then begin to question if I could do something differently to avoid this happening again. Was I made wrong? What if they’re right? Should I change to conform and be the person they want me to be?

The truth is, we all have these voices, and they never really go away. The voices aren’t real though, they are projections of our memories and anxieties sent to test us – some call these voices their Self Saboteur, a nasty part of our mind that is out to make us feel worthless. Negativity breeds negativity, so if you listen to these voices, then they will get louder and stronger and become part of your self-belief system, making you turn against yourself in the worst possible way. I wish there was a magic fix for this, but there isn’t, everyone will have their own coping mechanisms.

Coming up to 10 years ago now, I was just finding my feet of who I was and embracing all the things that make me unique. I had an amazing group of friends who all supported one another emotionally and physically, and we all went through heartbreak (that’s a painful one), being cheated on, betrayal, arguments, doing drugs, partying like the night would never end, and so on… We’ve all had experiences like it, and if you could bottle it and sell it, you’d be a millionaire because the experiences and lessons you learn in your early 20’s will set you up for the rest of your life. My best friend played a huge role in that part of my life, and we did absolutely everything together. We called one another brothers, and could tell what one another was thinking without even saying a word. It was a friendship that you probably only experience once in your lifetime.

My best friend was also bi-polar.

Bi-polar is a mental health disease that affects your mood, often swinging from one extreme to the other.

This can also be referred to as manic depression as it was called previously. He struggled with it for a long time, with spells of highs and lows, until he disappeared one day and no one knew where he had gone or how to find him. He turned up in California in a hotel room and he was only found because he had used his credit card to purchase a large amount of painkillers that triggered the police to locate him.

When they found him, he had indeed overdosed but was revived and thus his recovery process in hospital began. I supported him and his family as best I could, I went to his therapy appointments, often hearing very honest feelings that many of us likely don’t share with one another. He told me things he liked about me, and things he didn’t, because he needed to vocalise his feelings instead of bottling them up.

feelings. We are all different and we all perceive things differently. I have learned to let things happen and learn from them, and to decipher the difference between the voices that are sent to destroy me, and the voices that are sent to support and guide me through this difficult thing we call ‘life’.

There is a quote I have tattooed on my wrist, it says ‘What You Waiting For?’ and it is in fact from that famous Gwen Stefani song, but the meaning goes much deeper. I make the most of my life every single day, and allow myself to feel, good or bad, because I’m human. I’m kind to myself, and don’t push myself too far beyond my limits. When a bone breaks, it heals over time, and this then becomes the strongest part of the bone – this applies to our mental health too. I won’t waste any time waiting for something to happen, because we never know when we will get another opportunity.

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o what about that self-saboteur? If the voices get too loud, or you feel like you’re constantly sinking into a feeling of unknown, speak to someone, call up a friend, visit a family member. If you haven’t got anyone, there are many helplines that can support, some of which are listed in this issue for your reference. We’re all here to support one another and make this world a kinder and happier place, so don’t let your self-saboteur win.

I will leave you with one parting comment that applies to every single one of you.

I know a secret about you that no one else knows ‘you are an amazing human being and I love you’ and even though we’ve just told everyone this secret, they may forget over time, but I never will, I promise.

Written by Guest Editor - Aaron Mark

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ur friendship never faltered, but it did change after this. I became a lot more protective over him, ensuring he took his medication, and I found I would watch over him a bit more on nights out. One day, we unfortunately had quite a heated argument about something insignificant now, and the next thing I know, he had moved to Boston. We never spoke again.

Almost a year after he moved to Boston (about 8 years ago now), I was informed that he had taken his own life.

I wish I could have told him how much I loved him. I wish I could have said I’m sorry. Sometimes these opportunities are all too precious and all too often missed in life. I remember him for the positive, bubbly, and caring soul he was. I have since connected with him in spirit, if you don’t believe that’s fine, some could say it’s a way of me finding closure for the situation, but whether or not you believe, it gave me what I needed to come to terms with his passing – and that only happened a few years ago.

I spent many years blaming myself for his passing (self saboteur), wondering what I could have done differently (self saboteur), and why I wasn’t strong enough or a good enough friend to stop it (self saboteur), but I learned something valuable in all this.

I feel emotions very deeply, and when I’m connected to someone, I can’t help but fall in head first (this goes for friendships, relationships, everything), but I needed to remember that not everyone shares those

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H O T MESS

Canadian singer/songwriter and New York City’s Broadway star Scott J Campbell was suffering from a nervous breakdown when this shoot took place, his thought process was “If I’m going to be a mess, I might as well be the hottest mess I can be, right?”

6 months later, Scott took his own life This editorial reminds us that 75% of suicides reported in 2017 were from men, and we need to talk about mens mental health more to help improve this Photographer Aaron Williams has set up his own suicide prevention site at http://aaronkillshimself.com/ Photographer: Aaron Williams Model: Scott J Campbell

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BOYS D O N T CRY

This photographer was raised by a male creative. They have never witnessed so much talent and beauty combined with such selflessness and ability to see through the hatred in the world and battle it with pure positive creativity. The man who raised them has gone through so many highs and lows and no matter which wave he’s been riding he’s always created and expressed emotion through art.

He’s hardly spoken about his more difficult emotions but they have been able to understand them visually through his paintings and poetry. So although they’ve never seen him cry tears, they’ve seen him cry paint and they’ve seen his words cry and seen his words fall down the pages like tears. So don’t be afraid to cry in any way you can whether it’s through your camera or your paintbrush or your fingers playing music. Any talent that helps you cry helps you heal.

Photographer: Chloe Maylor Male Model: Nathan Maillard @Reelmanagement Wardrobe Stylist: Leandra Palmer Makeup Artist: Jess Kordecki Retoucher: Gary Woods FÉROCE MAGAZINE

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EXPERT ADVICE: SARAH MULINDWA interview by aaron mark

We had the opportunity to sit down with Specialist Nurse and resident on e4’s ‘The Sex Clinic’ Sarah Mulindwa - to ask her about how mens mental health has changed over the years, and what we can do to support one another when struggling with mental health.

Mental Health has been in the media’s focus for some time now to help raise awareness of how important it is, have you seen a change in the number of mental health related cases you see?

Over the last few years, media focus on mental health in general has increased massively and as a result the number of cases of issues relating to mental health have increased. Thanks to more awareness, media coverage and social media campaigns as well as high profile people/celebrities using their voices to shine a light on the subject, men feel more empowered to access service in regards to mental health problems.

‘men are more likely to say “I’m going out drinking too much” or “I’m struggling with commitment’ As a specialist Nurse, I see both male and female patients. Women tend to have higher rates of internalized disorders (I.e. depression or anxiety) whilst men are more likely to externalize theirs (substance misuse, aggressive behaviour/violence). Women typically will come in clinic and say “I’m not feeling myself lately” or “I feel anxious” whilst men are more likely to say “I’m going out drinking too much” or “I’m struggling with commitment”.

Clinical bias can overlook male distress which may lead to the underestimation of the prevalence of depression and anxiety among men, as substance misuse or aggression are often symptoms of an underlying mental health

problem.

I’ve definitely noted a shift in that men are accessing counselling services and are actively asking for help during consultations.

Mens Mental Health has always been a bit of a taboo subject, but I believe men are becoming more aware of the importance of opening up and seeking support, would you agree with this?

It can take years if not generations to truly and effectively dismantle taboos around men openly discussing their mental health problems.

I believe that media (and especially social media) nowadays play a pivotal role in keeping these conversations going and normalizing open and honest conversations. Due to gender differences in socialization, women are still more likely to have been treated for a mental health problem (29%) than men (17%). The reasons are still unclear but are likely to be due to both social and biological factors.

The social elements can be a lot more easily addressed, however, biological factors make it more complex. 1 in 4 women will require treatment for depression compared to 1 in 10

men yet historically suicide rates have always been much higher in men compared to women.

Although we are seeing a shift, the statistics suggest we still have a long way to go when it comes to Mental Health in men.

‘I’ve definitely noted a shift in that men are accessing counselling services and are actively asking for help during consultations’ The office for National Statistics reported that men accounted for 75% of all suicides reported in 2017, but that the suicide rate of 15.5 deaths per 100,000 was the lowest it had been since 1981, why do you think this could be?

I think the reduction of suicide rates have fallen in the last 30 years thanks to reduced stigma.

Its like a domino effect and once people, espe-

cially those in the public eye, step forward and shine a light on their personal experiences (which has been happening more and more) it normalizes these experiences. Often when somebody goes through a mental health problem, the feeling of isolation and feeling like you’re the only person feeling depressed/anxious etc. can be very real and so the more we hear and read about other peoples’ experiences and how they get/got through these issues can be a great source of comfort.

‘I believe the issue is not so much that men are unable to identify a problem but that they feel unable to open up, without feeling emasculated or judged’ What difficulties or barriers do you think men have in particular in identifying the state of their mental health, or is it in fact not an inability to identify it, but rather a difficulty in making steps to do something about it?

I think one of the biggest barriers men face when it comes to identifying the state of their mental health are often to do with traditional expectations related to gender roles. Socially constructed differences between men and women in roles and responsibilities, status and power, interact with biological differences between the sexes to contribute to these obstacles that often make it a harder task for men to access front line healthcare.

I believe the issue is not so much that men are unable to identify a problem but that they feel unable to open up, without feeling emasculated or judged. These social issues play a part in health seeking behaviour of men, responses of the health sector and society as a whole. We know that women are more likely to be diagnosed with a mental health problem (1 in 5) compared to men (1 in 8) but these statistics are often skewed because if fewer men access services, naturally the prevalence of mental health problems go undiagnosed. In developed countries 1 in 5 men compared to 1 in 12 women develop alcohol dependence which is telling considering substance misuse is often secondary to an underlying psychological problem.

‘often its easier to speak to people who are going through the same thing or something similar.’

What general advice can you give to individuals who feel their mental state is affecting them negatively on a daily basis?

> If you think you might be experiencing a mental health problem, the first thing I would advise is to book an appointment with your GP or practice Nurse. From that point you start the process of getting a diagnosis and treatment, whether it be counselling/therapy, medication and/or referral to a mental health specialist such as a psychiatrist > Seek help from charities such as the Samaritans and Crisis UK which you can do so in the comfort of your own home. Often times leaving the house or the thought of speaking to somebody face to face can be off putting for a lot of people going through a mental health problem. Online & telephone help and support can sometimes be a more effective way of reaching out and is available 24 hours > Mental health is a large spectrum. An imbalance in brain chemicals can cause mental health problems such as Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Bipolar, ADHD, depression, eating disorders, anxiety to name the most common. In this internet generation, we are seeing a lot more people reporting feelings of low self worth and depression triggered by social media pressures, stress at work, body image problems and the pressure to “have it all”.

To manage and reduce these feeling I would advise to be mindful of your social media engagement.

We now live in a world where it is increasingly difficult to opt out of social media as it is now a powerful tool and used in almost every industry. Remember that (to a large degree) you can control who you follow and the type of content you see on your feed.

Be mindful and aware of the pages/ people you engage with on social media platforms and how they affect or influence your mood.

Don’t be afraid of engaging in forums that bring the con-

versation to the front, often its easier to speak to people who are going through the same thing or something similar. > Speak to family and friends! The closest people to us can often be the hardest people to talk to, for fear of burdening them or being judged. More often than not, this couldn’t be any further from the truth. We all care about the people close to us and our family and friends can be the best people to speak to to alleviate feelings of a low mood. > Maintain a good diet, get enough sleep each night and take part in regular exercise.

Walking, going to the gym/workout class has long been proved to have positive effects on mental health. > If you think you are going through a crisis, call 999 immediately or attend your local A&E. Unfortunately, due to government cuts to NHS services (particularly front line healthcare such as GP services and sexual health) it will increasingly become more and more difficult for clinicians to provide services such as therapy and mental health support in the community. Because of the cuts, subsequently, we will only see an increase in mental health problems.

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DIVERGENT

He is divergent - from another kind / different / variable - like his emotions. Sometimes weak sometimes strong. Bipolar.

Photographer: Vic Schwarz Male Model: Paul Winkler

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make-up IS FOR everyone

Why shouldn’t men be able to express their moods through the medium of make-up? No one said it had to be pretty....

Photographer/Retoucher: Yuliya Osipenko Model: Pavel Rob for WMM Models Makeup Artist: Anastasiya Shustova

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SHHH

You can sometimes feel trapped, or want to hide away from the world, and this editorial just lets you know that it’s ok to take time out for yourself Photographer: Diana Bagi Model: Igor Yaskevich

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defenceLESS

A man is considered to be a protector, to be strong. But sometimes he doesn’t know what to do in his life and needs some support himself. Such a pressure has a significant influence on his mental health.

It’s really important to realize that a man has a right to be weak.

Photographer: Viktor Nikulin Model: Ivan Kadigrob

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T H E LONELY B O Y

Trapped with our own thoughts, we all need to mute the world sometimes and just be in our own company Photographer: Enzo Romero Model: Adam Lux

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MISSING YOU SO MUCH

This project is based around dealing and living with grief after the loss of a parent Mark lost his Father when he was 7 years old It is Marks aim to highlight several big moments in his life that his father missed out on Photographer: Mark Paterson

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ALONE

Photographer: Victoria D’Agostino Male Model: Juani Dandres Assistant: Luisina Guffanti

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THE B U T T E R F L Y EFFECT Photographers: Jaye Karl & Taylor Cready Model & Stylist: Andre Rice Makeup Artists: Kierre Smith & Tralee Stack

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C H I L D HOOD Photographer: Mikael Katz Male Model: Il’ya

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BLOOMING YOUTH

Photographer: Ayman Dayrabaeva Model: Erkn Mendygulov

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WR E C K LESS

Photographer: Natalie Lloyd Model: Leo Jonah for Profile Model Management Stylist: Dahlia Ichaou

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Gender

L

and Mental Health

GBTQ+ activist and writer Ben Pechey gives us some insight into how Mental Health is so often ‘gendered’ to help us identify solutions to the problems we face, but what about those who refute gender?

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ental health is one of the issues we have in society that has gained its own stand alone status, that keeps it in the public domain as a topic of conversation. We are always talking about things like this, and in a sense never really actually do anything about it. Mental health is something we all have, in various states of composure.

In the U.K. it seems that system is failing us. If you can get a doctor to listen to you, a referral to specialist services can take weeks or months. There is a lack of funding, with very little specialist care available in the U.K. without large waiting times. It can take development or worsening of symptoms sometimes to get your assessment progressed.

If you want therapy or counselling over medication, you will have to wait. A recent Royal College of Psychiatrists survey, which studied the experience of 500 diagnosed mental health patients found that some had waited up to 13 years to get the treatment they needed.

Of those 500, a quarter of the 500 patients, who were randomly selected from across the U.K., waited more than three months to see an NHS mental health specialist. Six per cent had waited at least a year.

This is really how bleak the mental health services available to us are right now. To talk about mental health still feels like admitting a weakness, and there is still a lot of fear associated with mental health. When you express any decline in your mental health, people treat you differently. You are seen instantly as delicate, ill, somehow not a whole person.

When it comes down to it, mental health is a very personal experience that is unique to each of us.

Our journey with mental health is our own, and how we choose to support it shows how open we are with that personal relationship.

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s a LGBTQ+ activist, and writer I am very public. My visibility is performative provocation of the status quo. I am actively trying to overcome issues that the queer community face.

So I am not afraid of exposure, attention and the glare of the spotlight. However, I am intently aware of myself having huge walls.

When it comes to emotions, I always say ‘I don’t deal with emotion’. If you are familiar with the popular infamous board game monopoly you will understand what I mean when I say this is my get out of jail free card. When anything provokes an emotional response, I will brush it under the carpet, because I don’t want to show emotion.

It’s not that I cannot process emotion, it’s that I don’t wish my outward appearance to be affected by emotion. I’m not afraid of showing how I feel, but it would seem I have an innate fear of expressing it.

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ecoding this right now, I can see that there is a fear of perceived weakness, and that I wrongly associate expressing emotion with weakness. I refused to watch Toy Story 3 ever again, because it made me cry, writing this I can clearly see I have a fear of expressing emotion.

In my past, currently, and in my future I have and will struggle with my mental health. I share myself daily, yet I am always slightly guarded. I never fully give myself up, which seems fair, but perhaps on closer inspection this could be problematic.

The main issues surrounding mental health at the moment is mainly a lack of funding, and trying to get men to talk about their suffering. We are lead to believe that men are the ultimate emotion ignorers. We assume therefore that we can gender the way in which people deal with mental health, that the answer is to campaign on specific needs. Yet how do you campaign for the mental well-being of a person who refutes gender, welcome to the grey area.

I

identify as Non-Binary, which means my gender identity sits on a sliding scale. My pronouns are they/them. I dress in what would be described by the mass media as ‘feminine’. Even I cannot argue the technicalities. My DNA is male, my technical physiological gender is male. Nature and nurture play no part, I’m not refuting biology.

Yet I would argue that I do not see the world in the same way as most cis-gendered men (cis-gendered means those who identify with the gender they were assigned at birth), I am far more open, empathetic and understanding. Yet when it comes to processing emotions and my own mental health, perhaps there is a predisposition that I am leaning into.

Is my underlying physical makeup the thing that is holding me back when it comes to my own happiness, or is there a deeper issue transcending all this gender debate? I think that for so long the world has viewed people through a binary, that in order to try and process our mental decline, we assume we have to lean into the codes of gender to help people.

Yet I know for a fact that its not my gender that is making me deal with emotion like this, it is a deeper detachment in myself. There is a societal issue at play here. Yet for me to even want to open up and talk about this, I first need to jump the societal hurdles that are in my way.

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e have to work against the preconceptions surrounding mental health, emotions and the human state. We have been conditioned to see emotion, and anything less than perfect mental health as a weakness.

History is full of victims of mental health misunderstanding. Anyone who says there is no stigma surrounding mental health, they have either never experienced any decline of their mental health, or are so horrifically in denial.

In 2019 should we not be further ahead than this?

Well in actual fact it points to a huge disparity in perceptions and actuality. To this day, we treat those with mental health issues as lesser beings.

Somehow they are no longer a full person to be valued and appreciated, they are now a social outcast to be ignored and treated with caution.

Please do not for one second that I do not think that men’s mental health is not important, far from it. ALL OUR MENTAL HEALTH IS IMPORTANT, and I cannot stress that enough.

Without having conversations that aim to deal with the issues that face all of us, we will not be able to push and promote true helpful solutions for these issues.

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e need to work harder to eradicate the stigma that all people face when it comes to mental health. This is what needs to happen first, then we can delve into the intersectionality of specific groups needs. What has happened in the world of mental health campaigning is that we have learnt to run, before we can even walk. We are only treating some of the symptoms, and not the root cause.

In reality we deal with mental health in such an off hand manner, no wonder we have such a huge issue with it. Mental health has no gender, it certainly does not discriminate, it affects everybody. We need to fully realise this, and address it accordingly. Mental health is so important to humans, but the negative impact it can have will win, especially if we leave anyone forgotten.

So I will leave you with this, mental health affects all of us, it doesn’t discriminate, in order to help, we need to defeat the stigma mental health carries. Then and only then will we be able to move forwards in the fight against our own specific demons.

Written by Ben Pechey

In the UK if you need immediate advice you can call the Samaritans 24/7 for free on 116 123, or email them on jo@samaritans.org for free and safeguarded advice.

‘I’m not afraid of showing how I feel, but it would seem I have an innate fear of expressing it.’

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DISTURB

Everyone says I can´t cry, but I want to cry, everyone says I can not feel, but I want to feel, always be strong, always be cold. No feelings, be a rock, be the leader, take responsibility... I have to be all that, I live in a jail, I just want to go out, I just want to run away Photographer: Jaime Pérez Perpiñá Model: Isaac Orozco for Trend Models Stylist: Lu Boild

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MOTION Photographer: Ridy Kanda Batupendi Model: Glad

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BROKEN

This editorial is based on the emotions the photograher felt when his long-time girlfriend broke up with him. He tried to capture the inner pain of mind and soul in a way that is visually symbolic. At the time, he felt an intense loss, the magnitude of which he had not experienced before. It was an explosion within, his world collapsing, his body dying, and his spirit wandering in misery.

This is the first shoot between Alexander and Francis of Q Management, who actually met while employed as mental health workers in a psychiatric hospital Photographer: Alexander Mosher Esper Male Model: Francis Amor for Q Management

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dostoevsky

Being a male artist in an industrial town in Russia is a pretty hard experience. It’s like being under pressure. There is so much misunderstanding amongst your community.

So you have no right environment and appropriate responce. You are also mocked because you’re different. So, the main part of your life hurts you and you can’t find a place to belong.

Photographers: Maria Klevenskaya & Viktor Nikulin Model/Hair Stylist: Ivan Lukyanov

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THE S H A W S H A N K Photographer: Nicole Anthony Male Models: Matt Anderson & Xavier Small both for JE Model Management Wardrobe Stylist: Nadia Dadkhah Hair Stylist: Briana Nicole Gamo Makeup Artist: Sofia Rothschild Other: Pia Haro

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‘Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light’ JK Rowling