Photographer gathers 2,500 volunteers for mass nude shoot

Around 2,500 people stripped naked for a nude photo shoot on Bondi Beach, Australia, on Saturday (26), aimed at raising awareness of skin cancer.

The crowd gathered to see the American photographer’s latest work Spencer Tunick known for doing nude photo shoots in major tourist spots around the world.

“We have an opportunity to raise awareness of skin checks and I’m honored… to come here and do my art and just celebrate the body and protection,” Tunick said on the beach in Sydney, according to Reuters.

One of the participants, Robyn Lindner , said she was nervous about participating. “I was secretly terrified (and) last night I have to confess I was thinking, ‘What have I done?’ But it was great, everyone had a really good vibe, everyone was very respectful and it was a lot of fun,” Lindner told the outlet.

It is Tunick’s fourth project in Australia, following a 2010 shoot in which he gathered around 5,500 people at Sydney’s famous Opera House.

Tunick is partnering with Skin Check Champions, a charity that runs free, educational skin check clinics.

The installation coincided with Australia’s National Skin Cancer Week of Action, when Scott Maggs the founder of the charity, will be urging everyone in the country to get a skin exam.

Maggs founded Skin Check Champions in 2010 after his friend Wes Bonny died of skin cancer aged 26.

“Our aim is a minimum of 2,000 participants to represent the more than 2,000 Australians who die from skin cancer each year,” said Maggs in a press release. “If Sydney Opera House plays host to 5,500 people on a cold morning in March 2010, we would expect to reach our target of 2,500.”

“Everyone is welcome to join, we welcome all body types, genders and races – with a passion to stop skin cancer in its tracks,” he said.

Tunick said in a statement that it was “an honor to be part of an artistic mission to raise awareness of the importance of skin checks” – and added that he himself would benefit from the campaign, having been convinced to get his first skin check. .

Tunick staged around 100 large-scale nude photos in public venues around the world, from Munich to Mexico City, where he recorded 18,000 nude participants. But these photos are not easy.

As thousands of volunteers undress, city officials have been known to intervene – leading to Tunick’s arrest on several occasions.

Tunick was once caught up in a dispute between the US Supreme Court and then New York City Mayor Rudi Giuliani, who believed the city would be “irreparably harmed” if any of the filming were to take place there.

In 2018, an Australian supermarket chain banned Tunick from filming in the car park of one of its Melbourne stores – a decision that was eventually overturned after a high-profile petition.