Spencer Tunick is an American photographer best known for organizing large-scale nude shoots.
Early life and education
Spencer Tunick was born in Middletown, Orange County, New York, into a Jewish family, being the fourth generation of photographers. His grandfather was a photographer of high-profile politicians in the United Nations. His father, Earle David Tunick, founded Resort Photo Service, a photography business that photographed private events as well as those of famous politicians, singers, actors, and athletes. His paternal grandmother is a relative of Martin Indyk, the former US ambassador to Israel.
Tunick studied at the New York Military Academy, and later earned a degree in Fine Arts from Emerson College in 1988.
Photography
In 1992, Tunick began 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 or small groups of nudes. Tunick cites 1994, when he posed and photographed 28 nude people in front of the headquarters of the United Nations in midtown Manhattan, as a turning point in his career; "It all started there, moving my work from just photography into installation and performance photography," he says.
Critical reception
Mia Fineman, writing for Slate magazine, said that there may be an ambiguity in Tunick's work between "transgression" and "obedience". A "regimented" quality has been observed in the arrangement of figures in some of Tunick's work, but this may be offset by the social transgression that accrues to public nakedness.
Major installations
; 2001
On May 26, 2001, between 2,500 and 3,000 volunteers gathered at the Place des Arts in Montreal, in collaboration with the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal. Some people from conservative and Christian background criticized the event and even protested in front of the Palacio de La Moneda after it happened, gathering around 200 people.
; 2003
In April 2003, Tunick was again in London to photograph 160 nude volunteers in front of the Saatchi Gallery at its opening on the South Bank, and hundreds of women in New York's Grand Central Terminal in October.
;2022
In November 2022, Tunick photographed 2500 volunteers dney's Bondi Beach. It was done during the skin cancer awareness week, with a charity Skin Check Champions being a collaborator.
;2024
In October 2024, Tunick photographed over 5500 volunteers on Australia, Brisbane’s Story Bridge, having them pose in many different ways. This installment, titled "Rising Tide", was a sequel to a smaller photoshoot in 2023 Melt Festival, titled "Tide". Monique Ross, writing for The Guardian, remarked on the diversity, listing "Stocky bodies. Sagging bodies. Tattooed bodies. Transitioning bodies. Scarred bodies. Bony bodies. Pregnant bodies. Chiselled bodies. Bodies needing assistance from a wheelchair, a walker, a pair of crutches".
See also
- Public nudity
- Tableau vivant