Spencer Tunick

I first heard about Spencer Tunick from a documentary on HBO about his photography. Does the name sound unfamiliar? Tunick's the guy who recruits a bunch of people to take their clothes off and lie down some place. These days, he's got enough clout that he can get hundreds of people.

His photos aren't solely about titillation. Indeed, at the distances you see the people, it's hard to make out details other than they are bodies. His photos verge on the abstract, which probably makes it classier, and certainly less controversial than, say, Robert Mapplethorpe, whose photos drew controversy from folks who equated his work with pornography, and wondered how the government could fund his work.

Tunick isn't like, say, Helmut Newton, who was into big bosomed women. He's certainly not Mapplethorpe. He isn't into distorted nudes. Indeed, he's interested in humans as landscape, often having them either populate natural spots (deserts, beaches) or near manmade sites (roads, steps, escalators).

He's so noted for what he does that the only person I can think that's close was this guy named Christos who would wrap up large things (islands, and such) with cloth and keep it up for a few days. I don't know what happened to that guy. Haven't heard about him for years.

Tunick's models are often people who have never posed nude before, but perhaps have thought about it. He often takes his pictures in a hurry and tries to draw as little attention as possible, though some of his pictures suggest this isn't always possible. In particular, he'll try to have pix done at dawn, have people rush out for ten minutes and get set up, click away, and have people sent off.

I will say that I've noticed something interesting about his photos. The people are almost always white. I have no idea what this means. If he's photographing in Europe and the US, this may be the reason. I don't think he purposely avoids filming darker skins, but it may be that finding a country whose populace is dark skinned where he can take photos is not so easy.

I know. This smacks of political correctness. But it's the first thing that came to mind while looking at some of his photos. He certainly has no obligation to find predominantly dark-skinned participants, and that may be quite difficult, without heading to, say, Africa.

Tunick knows he has a gimmick, but the photos are interesting, and he has his signature stuff. I imagine there are other photographers that have more "talent" that wish they could get this kind of exposure, if you pardon the pun, and certainly nudity must contribute to his fame. Could Peter Greenaway, for example, have been successful without every film having some level of nudity? His material is often challenging for folks to watch, because he eschews traditional narrative. Tunick doesn't really have this problem, as he's only going for a particular visual.

I do wonder whether he'll stretch in other directions in his photography. For example, he has yet to create patterns with the bodies other than simple lines. I'm not sure what he'd do. Spirals, for example. Is he willing to interspese clothed and unclothed people together? How about the use of props?

It must be something to be recognized for these photographs. People strive to be known for something, and Spencer Tunick has found his niche.