Most folks, especially those of the nudist persuasion, have heard of Spencer Tunick, the American photographer who has managed to get groups of several thousand volunteers in cities all over the world to congregate at dawn in sometimes frigid temperatures to pose together for his camera. Most compositions require that complete strangers be close together, even touching, yet no one complains, as it's seen as a privilege to participate in one of Tunick's artistic "installations", as he himself refers to them. Organizing one of his massive events is complicated but does generate a considerable amount of press coverage and garnered him a worldwide reputation as an avant-garde artist.
Tunick is by no means the only photographer of "mass nudes". Not as well known, but also a celebrated artist is the German Henning Von Berg. He too takes his camera to the four corners of the world, cities actually inviting him to use their communities as the backdrop for one of his compositions. Unlike Spencer, however, his work does not involve as many people: For Von Berg, a half-dozen models is plenty. Also, Von Berg is a nudist, and that's actually how he found his vocation.
From our perspective, nude art is a celebration of the human body and a rejection of shame. These artists have succeeded in bringing it into the mainstream. Let's hope the public doesn't tire of this artform as they did of the endless rash of nude charity calendars!
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