WHY DO PEOPLE GET-OFF BY OTHERS STRIPPING-OFF?

Stacey Lee, SkyNews.com.au journalist

18 September 2011

Recently, renowned photographer Spencer Tunick staged a ‘study' on a Dead Sea beach. This ‘study' involved a thousand people from all over the world posing nude while Tunick photographed their bare bodies, all in the name of art and environmental awareness.

The shoot is part of a bid to boost Israel's campaign to have the Dead Sea recognised as one of the world's seven natural wonders. There will be a global online vote in November.

The vote follows studies which reveal the Dead Sea could dry out by 2050 unless urgent steps are taken. Tunick is famous for his photographs and has arranged naked bodies over prominent landscapes and attractions ranging from the Sydney Opera House to New York's Grand Central Station.

I would like to pose the question - Why must the people involved be naked?

The answer - publicity.

No media outlet wants to report on a thousand people standing on a beach in Israel, but it's a different story if they strip-off for it.

As we have heard over and over, ‘sex sells' so there is no doubt that a website with an image of a thousand naked people will get more hits than a website with an image of a thousand clothed people.

Yes, I realise I just answered my own question, but is this right?

Why do we need to see naked people to be made aware, or to care about the impending demise of the Dead Sea?

His website claims ‘The grouped masses which do not underscore sexuality become abstractions that challenge or reconfigure one's views of nudity and privacy.'

I guess this is true. Seeing an endless amount of these individuals' private parts makes me think, is nudity really a private thing? Obviously not to them but, if you can sit at a computer and Google images of this ‘art' and see an abundance of nude bodies, why do we consider nudity to be private?

That question, I can't answer. All I know is that because of his pictures I, and now you, know about the falling levels of the Dead Sea. Tunick may be onto something after all.

That being said, I will now use this to my advantage and hope that by posting some pictures of his nude ‘art' on my blog, I might get a few more hits.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this global phenomenon, so send me a tweet @Staceylee_ or leave a comment below.

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Jeff Catt, Sydney (19 September 2011 7:02PM) wrote:
Swum in the Dead Sea earlier this year. An amazing experience.