Spencer Tunick
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Spencer Tunick (born January 1, 1967) is an American photographer. Tunick was born in Middletown, New York. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Emerson College in 1988. He is best known for his photographs that feature large numbers of nude people posed in artistic formations. In these images the nude form becomes abstract due to the sheer number so closely placed together. Known as Installations they are often situated in urban locations throughout the world. He also has done some "Beyond The City" woodland and beach installations and still does individuals and small groups occasionally.
In 1986 he visted London, UK where he took a photographs of a nude at a bus stop and of scores of nudes in Alleyn's School's Lower School Hall in Dulwich, Southwark.
In 1992 Spencer Tunick started out documenting live nudes in public locations in New York through video and photographs. His early works from this period focus more on a single nude individual to small groups of nudes. These works are much more intimate images than the massive installations for which he's now known. His photos quickly became popular and he spread out to other states in America. By 1994 Spencer Tunick had organized and photographed over 65 temporary site related installations in the United States and abroad. Tunick Has taken his celebration of the nude form international and has taken photos in cities that include Bruges, Buenos Aires, Buffalo, London, Lyon, Melbourne, Montreal, San Sebastián, São Paulo, Caracas, Newcastle/Gateshead, Vienna, Düsseldorf and Santiago.
Since 1992 Spencer Tunick has been arrested 5 times while working outdoors in New York. In each case, the charges against him were dropped shortly thereafter.
He is the subject of three HBO documentaries, Naked States, Naked World, and Positively Naked.
In June 2003 he completed his largest photo to date by photographing 7000 naked Spaniards in Barcelona. On June 26, 2004 he completed his largest shoot in North America in Cleveland Ohio with 2,754 people posing. In August 2004 a photo shoot was completed in Buffalo of about 1800 nudes in Buffalo's old central train station. On July 17, 2005 he photographed almost 1700 nudes on the quaysides at Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, including the Gateshead Millennium Bridge. [1]. On March 19, 2006, Tunick photographed 1500 nudes in Caracas, having people standing up, lying down and on their knees standing right next to the main Simon Bolivar statue. [2]. He currently is preparing a photoshoot in Mexico City after on the weekend of the 29th of April of 2007 (See spencertunickmexico.unam.mx).
His models are volunteers who receive a signed photo as a reward.
- Spencer Tunick - official website
- In the studio: Spencer Tunick - London Telegraph interview
- Around Noon: Spencer Tunick - The Naked Truth - NPR radio diary
- 'Spencer Tunick: about art and transgression' - article
- http://thespencertunickexperience.org/
- Spencer Tunick Forum - unofficial website set up for models, and others who appreciate Spencer's art.