Israel: Thousands of naked posed in the Dead Sea (see photos)

Israel, September 18, 2011

Thousands of Israelis had the opportunity to participate in a photo shoot of the artist Spencer Tunick on the Dead Sea, where they appeared naked.

The group was formed by people between 18 to 77 years old and were specially selected by the artist. The location was kept secret to stop the religious officials to try to stop the shoot.

Tunick instructed the Israelis to enter the salt water, while he photographed them floating in the Dead Sea.

But curious onlookers, to uncover the secret place, begin to disrupt the shoot, and helicopters began to fly over the nude swimmers.

The great fear was that religious authorities may try to stop with protests the session, but the artist had no interruptions, just by the citizens who were spying.

Tunick is an American Jew who organized other naked shoots before, in Australia, USA, Brazil, France, England, Spain, Switzerland, Holland and Austria, and said that he “believes that Israel is the only country in the Middle East with religious freedom”.

The artist insisted that “the shooting of the Dead Sea is not a challenge to the religious sensitivities or conflicts with the Middle East”.

Tunick maintains that “his work is not about exhibitionism or eroticism, but it highlights the vulnerability of life in a city landscape in the rough”.

Although at times the authorities have been at odds, especially in the United States, where he was arrested seven times.