SYDNEY (Reuters) – About 2,500 people stripped off their clothes on Saturday to pose for American photographer Spencer Tunick on Sydney’s Bondi Beach in a bid to raise awareness of skin cancer.
Tunik, famous for organizing mass nude photo shoots at world landmarks, used a megaphone to guide attendees into several poses on the beach before many of them plunged naked into the ocean.
The New York-based artist collaborated with a charity on the nude art installation in a bid to raise awareness of melanoma, the fourth most common form of cancer in Australia. The Federal Government estimates that this year 17,756 new cases of skin cancer will be diagnosed in Australia and 1,281 Australians will die from the disease.
“We have an opportunity to raise awareness about skin checks and it’s an honor … to come here and do my art and just celebrate the body and protection,” Tunick said on the beach on a crisp spring morning in Sydney.
A contestant, Robin Lindner, said she overcame her nerves to strip down for the photo shoot, which organizers say is attended by 2,500 people.
“I was secretly terrified (and) last night I have to admit I was thinking, ‘What have I done?'” But it was great, everyone was in a really good mood, everyone was really respectful and it just felt really fun,” Lindner told Reuters.
Tunick last directed a mass photo shoot in Sydney in 2010, when 5,200 Australians posed naked at the Sydney Opera House.
(Reporting by Jill Gralow, James Redmayne and Sam McKeith; Editing by Will Dunham)
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