Why 1,000 People Lay Naked in Front of a Finnish Lake

Performance Artist Spencer Tunick's Group Nude Shoot
"Body and Lake Connected... The Public as Part of Creation"

Volunteers participating in the photo shoot of Spencer Tunick, an American performance artist, in Finland.

American performance artist Spencer Tunick is making headlines for conducting a large-scale group nude photoshoot with 1,000 volunteers in Finland.

According to AFP, around 3 a.m. local time on the 15th, performance artist Spencer Tunick and 1,000 volunteers carried out a massive nude photoshoot in Finland. The volunteers posed under Tunick's direction, moving between parks and lakes.

Ann Lokki from Vihti, southern Finland, stood in the front row with her husband, Pekka Menpa.

She said, "It feels incredibly happy. When we turned our backs to the camera and saw all those people, it looked fantastic." The couple mentioned that being naked in front of others became natural, creating a comfortable atmosphere among the participants.

In an interview with AFP, Tunick said, "I wanted to connect the bodies of the volunteers with Finland's lakes," adding, "Today, this land with 1,000 lakes (Finland) became a land with 1,000 nudes." He also noted, "It is very rare for the public to become part of the creative process."

Tunick is a world-renowned nude photographer. Since the 1990s, he has conducted large-scale nude photoshoots worldwide. He is famous for meticulously arranging numerous people in public spaces to match the surrounding atmosphere in his photographs.

From a few hundred to several thousand volunteers have participated in his performances. All of them volunteered willingly and posed nude. Models who participate receive a copy of their final photograph.

Last November, Tunick conducted a photoshoot with over 2,500 volunteers at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, to raise awareness about skin cancer. In 2016, he also organized a nude photoshoot with around 130 women opposing U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump.