Picture: Maui 4 (Twin Falls) 2009. c-print mounted between plexi – h: 48 x w: 60 in / h: 121.92 x w: 152.4 cm
Nude shooting in the middle of the desert
I’m standing naked in the middle of the desert. Around me 349 people have gathered, all starring into a distant nothingness. It is 4:30am. We are desert spirits covered by white sheer sheets in what feels like minus 10 degrees. The man on the RV shouting instructions to both us and his willing assistants is Spencer Tunick. We are in the middle of Nevada, just a stone throw away from the raving madness that is Burning Man, and the fact that we are all stark naked seems like one of the few completely sane things in this place.
Even Spencer seems to be aware of this. In his last pep email he pleads with us to please use no face paint, no body paint, no visible, out of the ordinary, dyed or bright colored hair, meaning no pink, purple, green or blue hair, etc. and to bring a natural colored wig if we have unnatural hair coloring.
He has a point. On my 20min. walk to the shoot into deep playa (playa being the playground of the Burning Man tribe) I have been accompanied by an over-dimensional wolf, an overweight elfin queen and a black half naked Santa Claus.
As the sun rises in a blood orange-colored ball, promising instant overheating, 350 nude spirits start to awake. There are cattle sounds, I start a chain reaction with a short introduction of myself: „My name is Sophie from Germany“. I know Spencer will hate me for this, but the reaction of everyone else is extraordinary. If you ever get your hands on the picture, that spot in the first row that is whited out, that would be me!
Spencer Tunick: Dead Sea 6, 2011. c-print mounted between plexi. h: 48 x w: 60 in / h: 121.92 x w: 152.4 cm
Pictures: All copyright Spencer Tunick/Naked Pavement An icompendium Site
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