Commercial photographer Neil Dacosta decided to have a little fun with The Book Of Mormon. He added the words “missionary positions” to the title and created a pictorial that would have the latter day saints turning beet red. In response to a passage in the LDS handbook which says sexual relations are proper only between a man and a woman who are legally wed, Dacosta proceeds to photograph two geeky males as they engage in various textbook “missionary positions” fully dressed.
The missionary position is considered the proper way for christians to engage in sexual intercourse. In the text definition, there’s a term “intercural intercourse” which is defined as the “homosexual missionary position”. The act is described as the polite way for two males to engage in sex. Its deed is described as rubbing between two thighs and has been referenced to bisexual men such as Abraham Lincoln, Alexander The Great, and lonely soldiers in the battlefield. According to most religious conservative groups, homosexuality is wrong and deviant. Dacosta’s Book Of Mormon is a clever, and forthright way to protest such absurdity.
Most of Dacosta’s other work has an edge. He has shot various campaigns involving snowboarders, runners and motorcross. In the shots, the athletes appear small against the landscape. It fits in well with another essay examining vulnerability called Astronaut Suicides. Here, the photographer shows a fully dressed astronaut in different death induced scenarios. Again, it plays against the idea that no matter what identity we choose whether on purpose or fate, we’re all human beings at the core.
