"That's right, this is Christ's life and gospels portrayed
as if it were for a special millenial edition of Vogue. Quick summary:
lots of dramatic stills of beautiful, androgenous, young adults playing
the roles of Christ, Mary, the Apostles, Judas, etc. in contemporary
settings like a garage (aka, the manger) or a ghetto in the USA.
"Even if you are staunchly anti-christian, the images have their
own evocative appeal. Re-envisioning the monopoly of renaissance icongraphy
into contemporary media and form is an interesting premise (which
the book jacket alludes to) but the images smack too much of hipsterism
and model-pretty allure to stand as a serious enough retelling of
an old story. It does, however, reinvigorate and loosen the stodgy
fixity that bibilical references often have for many folks. (I realize
these last two sentences may sound a bit at odds with each other but
the book does bring up contradictory feelings). The book may bring
up questions of blashpemy but I think the textual support helps substantiate
the photographs which otherwise would appear as mere stylizations
passing for something more meaningful. There's quite a bit of frontal
nudity which may offend many Christians and prudes but as the Book
of Ecclesiastes says, and I only paraphrase, 'For what does a person
who has never experienced temptation really know?'."
