Spooky shots of naked volunteers wearing nothing but white sheets at the Festival of Skeletons... taken to mark Day of the Dead

  • Photos taken at a festival in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico
  • Spencer Tunick, 45, is famous for his images of naked people en masse
  • Project was to mark Mexican day commemorating those who have died

By Mark Duell

PUBLISHED: 06:34 EST, 5 November 2012 | UPDATED: 10:40 EST, 5 November 2012


For a man whose career is taking pictures of naked volunteers, these photos will hardly be shocking.

But to the average viewer these shots by Spencer Tunick - taken early morning at the Festival de Calacas (Festival of Skeletons) in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico - will be rather spooky.

Mr Tunick, 45, used the eerie landscape of Los Senderos village and 150 volunteers in white sheets for his ‘Spirits' project, to mark the Day of the Dead - which pays tribute to people who have died.

Eerie: These remarkable shots by Spencer Tunick were taken during in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Eerie: These remarkable shots by Spencer Tunick were taken during in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Big picture: Around 150 people posed for an early morning nude photo installation at the 'Festival de Calacas' (Festival of Skeletons) to commemorate the Day of the Dead, according to organisers

Big picture: Around 150 people posed for an early morning nude photo installation at the 'Festival de Calacas' (Festival of Skeletons) to commemorate the Day of the Dead, according to organisers

Directions: Spencer Tunick (centre), 45, of New York, used the eerie landscape of Los Senderos in Mexico

Directions: Spencer Tunick (centre), 45, of New York, used the eerie landscape of Los Senderos in Mexico

Mr Tunick, who was born in 1967 in Middletown, New York, trained at the International Center of Photography in Manhattan before studying at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.

He has been creating astonishing human art installations for the past 20 years, gathering hundreds or thousands of naked volunteers, aiming to create scenes where humans blend with landscape.

 

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One memorable previous effort saw him photograph 1,800 naked people arranged in the coloured seats of the Ernst Happel stadium in Vienna, Austria, which hosted the Euro 2008 football final.

Mr Tunick boasts on his website that he has been arrested five times while trying to work outdoors in New York City since 1992, with the last of these coming in 1999 in Times Square, Manhattan.

In memory: The installation was to mark the Day of the Dead, which commemorates those who have died

In memory: The installation was to mark the Day of the Dead, which commemorates those who have died

Experienced: Mr Tunick has been creating astonishing human art installations for the past 20 years, gathering hundreds or thousands of naked volunteers in various places

Experienced: Mr Tunick has been creating astonishing human art installations for the past 20 years, gathering hundreds or thousands of naked volunteers in various places

Spooky: But for a man whose career is taking pictures of naked volunteers, these photos will hardly be odd

Spooky: But for a man whose career is taking pictures of naked volunteers, these photos will hardly be odd

However Mr Tunick was so desperate to continue working on New York’s streets that he filed a lawsuit against the city to protect himself and participants from future arrests - which he won.

But his website adds that he has not worked on the streets of New York in a decade, after he was rejected when applying for his first New York City permit after winning his case against the city.

Now it seems Mr Tunick has found a soft spot for travelling south to work in San Miguel de Allende.

He told the New York Times in June of this year: ‘I head down to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico quite often these days where I have learned to appreciate a good tequila like Casa Dragones.’

 
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Love it. Especially the larger chested ladies.

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I like his pictures. And his models are NOT supposed to be gorgeous but to represent the rest of us ordinary humans.

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Should have pulled their tummies, taken their glasses off and tucked those cheeky little members down. Other than that beautiful.

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I think it is wonderful.......I wish I would have gone

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The Mexican Day of the Dead is slowly being incorporated and absorbed into our own Halloween traditions, and that's no bad thing in my opinion. - Gareth, Chesham, 5/11/2012 9:25***** Oh, nonsense! Hallowe'en/All Hallow's Eve is October 31st. Then, All Soul's Day is Nov. 1st and El dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead/All Saints' Day is November 2nd. Catholics and Anglicans have always remembered the dead on these 3 days. Three days. Halloween has become a secular holiday of no real meaning, only an excuse to beg for and eat candy. The reverse of your statement is true.

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Not impressed. This is actually quite tacky and seedy.

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I actually like it, caught the concept just right if you ask me.

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The one distant shot looks great, very eerie .... the close up shots really just look like chubby, every day people wearing sheets.

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SPENCER TURNIP MORE LIKE.

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It's better art than that rubbish Emins comes out with.

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