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| Photographer Spencer Tunick's project is part of a bid to boost Israel's campaign to have the Dead Sea recognized as one of the world's seven natural wonders |
U.S.
photographer Spencer Tunick photographed 1,200 naked Israelis and tourists to
raise awareness about the Dead Sea drying up.
THE
GIST
- U.S. photographer Spencer Tunick is known for his photographs of naked human bodies over prominent landscapes.
- In his latest intallation called the "Naked Sea," Tunick photographed 1,200 nude bodies.
- Tunick wants to raise awareness about the Dead Sea, which could dry out by 2050.
Dawn over the lowest
spot on earth illuminated a Dead Sea very much alive on Saturday, as more than
1,000 floating nude Israelis posed for a mass shoot by U.S. photographer
Spencer Tunick.
The Naked Sea
project, Tunick's first in the Middle East, is part of a bid to boost Israel's
campaign to have the salt-saturated feature recognized as one of the world's
seven natural wonders in a global online vote in November.
Experts warn that
the Dead Sea could dry out by 2050 unless urgent steps are taken to halt its
demise.
For Tunick, a Jewish
American who has arranged naked human bodies over prominent landscapes and
landmarks ranging from a Swiss glacier to the Sydney Opera House, a nude
installation is an indicator of a host country's openness.
"In some places
the work is a little bit more controversial, and then in other places the works
are accepted as a litmus test for how free a country is, or how open a country
is, and how full of rights a country is," he told a pre-shoot press briefing.
Orthodox Jewish
politicians and rabbis had protested over what they termed the "Sodom and
Gomorrah" nature of Tunick's work, and threatened to take legal action
against the plan to strip in public.
The head of the
local council in whose area the early-morning photo session took place had
threatened to call police to disperse the shoot, which he said was offensive to
local residents.
But organizers kept
the location secret until the last moment to secure it, and there were no
hitches to the two-hour session at the Mineral Beach complex, not far from
where tradition says the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, irreparably
overrun by sin, were destroyed by God along with their inhabitants. Tunick, who
grew up in the largely Hassidic community of South Fallsburg, NY, said in the
briefing that he could understand how religious people could find his work
offensive.
"That's why
I've decided to do the work on Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath), so no one would
be walking by and see a naked person half a mile away and be offended," he
said.
The Dead Sea's
surface level is plunging by about 39 inches (a meter) each year, and the
shoreline has receded by more than 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) in places, according
to some estimates
For Ari Frucht, who
initiated the project and has toiled over its preparations for the past four
years, a work by Spencer Tunick could help raise awareness of the sea's
condition and galvanize Israel's government into action.
He believes there is
another aspect, too, to the Jewish state hosting such a shoot.
"The world
needs to know that Israelis are not religious extremists," he said ahead
of the event.
Besides involvement
in public disrobing, the installation provided Chai Amir, a 35-year-old
resident of central city Bnei Brack, an opportunity to do something for a cause
he believed in.
"I'm glad I was
able to take part in an event aimed at saving the Dead Sea," he said as
the shoot wrapped. "You can really see how the waterline recedes every
year."
A jubilant Tunick
praised the "brave" participants of his installation, some of whom
flew to Israel especially for it.
"This could
happen nowhere else in the Middle East," he said as the event wound down,
and the men and women headed to the showers and buses.
"If you love
freedom in New York, freedom in London, freedom in Italy... there's freedom in
Israel, and I think this is very important for people to understand."
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