Spencer Tunick’s mass nude photoshoot in Melbourne supermarket carpark to go ahead
Melbourne supermarket giant Woolworths has agreed to let international nude crowd photographer Spencer Tunick use one of its carparks for a photoshoot after earlier denying permission.
Mr Tunick had planned to photograph thousands of nude Melburnians at the rooftop carpark at the supermarket’s Prahran store on Chapel Street, in innercity Melbourne.
The New York-based artist is famous for his photos of throngs of naked people in public places and has created a number of similar human installations, including one at the Sydney Opera House in 2010.
The local business group that in- vited Mr Tunick to use the rooftop as a key feature in an upcoming Melbourne winter arts project said 10,000 people had already signed up to take part in the event. Originally Woolworths refused permission out of concern about the impact on customers during the busy weekend period. However the organisers proposed to reschedule the shoot for a Monday morning and Woolworths agreed.
The shoot will now take place on July 9, will be completed in one hour and participants will be urged to take public transport to ensure that some carparks would be available for customers. A Woolworths spokesperson said the company always sup- ported the local arts festival.
“The festival organisers… indicated a willingness to be flexible with dates and times to ensure the shoot could happen without inconveniencing our customers during busy weekend trading,” the company said in a statement. “As a result, we’re now able to accommodate the request to temporarily clear the rooftop for Spencer Tunick’s group shot.
“It’s a good outcome that will allow Spencer Tunick to profile the Chapel Street precinct on the world stage without compromising the ability of our customers to access the store, in an easy and convenient manner.”.