Spencer Tunick Reconsiders “Nudes in a Field: Cambodia” Photo Shoot

Photographer Spencer Tunick has postponed and may cancel a planned photo shoot of group nudes in rural Cambodia. The photographer is well known for his arrangements of nude models that range in number from dozens to several hundred. But the announcement of an “installation” near the site of the Khmer Rouge “Killing Fields” of the 1970s drew criticism.

“Perhaps dozens of nude bodies of various shapes and sizes piled together near a mass grave site doesn’t produce the kind of sensual transgression I meant,” Tunick said.

“In using large numbers of naked volunteers arranged artistically my goal is to get the viewer to awaken to the abstract visual possibilities of the unclothed figure, not scream ‘never again!’”

Tunick says he is also reconsidering the upcoming installations Nudes in a Hotel: Rwanda, Naked Boys Just Lying There: Srebrenica and Left on a Lawn: Walker County Georgia.