Two thousand five hundred naked people filled Bondi Beach, one of Australia’s most iconic landmarks, on Saturday morning in the name of Spencer Tunick’s latest art installation.
The photo shoot was to raise awareness of skin cancer, with the 2,500-person crowd representing the number of Australians who die from the disease each year, The Guardian reported.
According to the outlet, Tunick hopes to encourage regular skin checks among Australians.
“Skin unites us and protects us,” he told The Guardian. “I use the amazing array of body types and skin tones to create my work, so it feels perfectly appropriate to take part in this effort in that my medium is the nude human form.”
The artist used a megaphone to instruct the crowd during the shoot, as per The Guardian. “Put your arms out when you’re posing,” he called. “Don’t get naked yet.”
Tunick had the group pose in several different configurations before some took a morning dip in the sea, The Print added.
Nudity is usually banned on the beach, but special legislation was implemented to allow the photo shoot. Those taking part had to be fully clothed by 10 a.m. to avoid a fine, according to The Guardian.
“If I could have prevented my dad’s and my nan’s fatal cancer diagnoses with something as simple as a skin check or wearing sunscreen every day, I would,” one participant said.
Another naked model, Sarah Bowen, told the Guardian that her sister and father had survived melanoma.
On her experience of the nude shoot, she said: “It was freezing, but also empowering to be with so many people supporting the cause and also just being like naked and seeing so many different people and shapes and sizes. Everyone just being comfortable being naked. It was wonderful.”
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