ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the case study of Alessandro Bavari. In his photographic project, Sodom and Gomorrah, Italian artist Bavari visualizes two sinful biblical cities in his imagination, Sodom and Gomorrah. The major tone of the entire Sodom and Gomorrah project is like that of a dark freak show at an amusement park. Sodom and Gomorrah can be considered as mirror images that reflect human desire as false identities and that bring forth contentment. Illustrating unconventional sexuality, Bavari’s view of longing sexuality seems to surpass gender, age, generation, and race. Bavari organizes his visual narratives in three major types: landscape/cityscape, portraiture, and event photographs. City of Sodom and City of Gomorra provide an overall glimpse at the cities of Sodom and Gomorra on two separate composite photographs. Event photographs of the residents, which Bavari calls “symposium,” mostly illustrate uncanny sexual acts that are rarely seen in public. Examples include Fellatio Fair, Prelude to Incest between Monozigote Twins, and Coprophilia Hall.
