Thanks for that.

My wife and I are due to participate tomorrow and we are a little bit apprehensive after seeing the sneaky Rex Features shots.

Not 100% decided now but your experience is very encouraging.

M & D

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I highly suggest that you just take a deep breath and go for it - I would have regretted it if I'd pulled out. Ignore the papps, just have fun!

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This is so cool, sounds like it was a great experience, i am so glad for you :). xxx

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Thanks, it was amazing!

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Hello and well done Im going tommorrow just wondering what time you started to wait to get a place???

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Hope you got there on time?

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No one was more apprehensive than me but I'm so glad I got the opportunity and kept my nerve. Once everyone was naked it became the most natural exhilarating experience. If you have the change, take it!
If you've never tried anything like this before please read this acticale in full before making judgment. It is a so much more natural state than the airbushed media fueled life we take without question.
Thankyou Catherine for encapsulating the day so succinctly.

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This made me smile, thank you

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It's 18.01, I'm debating getting some sleep and then getting up for tonight's shoot but remain undecided! I don't mind being papped by Spencer but random press?! You do make it sound like a great experience though, quite unique, thanks for blogging it :)

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Don't think about it, they were only there at the last shoot. I suppect (but don't know ) that there won't be as many (if any) tomorrow. You'll kick yorself if you miss it.

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The pap photos all seemed to fit in with the spirit - no zoom lenses!

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To those signed up but are unsure whether to follow through: just DO IT! I did it last night and it was a great experience- really natural and incredibly friendly. Inhibitions fade away when 500 other people start undressing around you! It's actually quite liberating (and I don't do this sort of thing usually).

Pretty sure there won't be many/any press there for tonight's shoot as well, they'll have had their filll last night. Advise you to turn up quite early though (2/2.30).

Hope you enjoy it!

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Forget the doubts and just go for it. It's a great thing to be a part of. I'm a life model so nudity is second nature, but this was very different, and so worth doing!!

Thanks for the blog Catherine. You put it across really well :-)

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I wouldn't mind trying life modelling actually!

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Maybe you should then. Try looking for local art groups or see if the council does evening classes. It's a lot harder to do than people think, but it's very worthwhile, and interesting to see how others see you. I love it.

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I've been a naturist for about forty years and it has never been a problem - a couple of years ago I undertook to pose for a lady artist I knew only slightly and found that it is a whole new ball game.

When you are nude in a nudist environment you a lost in a crowd but when you pose as a model you are under intense individual scrutiny and that is very different and very personal. Obviously if you get your head around it the situation eventually becomes natural but it might take a while.

Using the argument that everything should be tried, provided that it is legal and doesn't scare the horses I would say 'Go for it'.

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Exhausted but smugly high from taking part in this morning's installation. Am so pleased I plucked up the courage and "dis-robed" (Organiser's speak for get yer kit off) It was a fantastic experience; everyone was really friendly and, whilst I agree it was well surreal it was weirdly unembarassing. A great leveller. If you're contemplating doing it tomorrow, set that alarm and go for it! ( Oh and recommend you take a flask of tea and some munchies...)

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Ahh, tea would have been lovely!

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I did the shoot last night too and found it exactly as Catherine has described. I was apprehensive as I hadn't done anything like this before but once the first strip was out of the way, I was surprised how ordinary it felt. I didn't feel self-conscious at all with so many others being naked too. The tramp was a laugh ("Got any spare change!") but the last shoot was a bit of chore as the cold, waiting around and lack of sleep had worn me down but it was still exhilarating and enlightening and I don't regret it at all. If you arrive at the Lowry to queue early (I was there at 00.30 with queue numbers about 100), take a wrap to keep you warm. Go to the loo at the Lowry or you'll be queuing at a Portaloo. Everyone gets issued with the same blue bag to put their stuff into so it might be a good idea to take something to tie to the handle so you can find your bag easily after shoots.

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Good for you catherineib!
You might be interested in our groups, http://www.thespencertunickexperience.org and http://www.spencertunickforum.org
I've posed for Spencer a few times and our sites are for those of us who pose, or those just wanting to learn more about Spencer's art. We have lots of new members due to these events and the recent Australia installation.
Roger

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Brilliant Catherine, well done and welcome to our world.

"it is strange how experience can give such a different perspective than pre-judgement, the opposite in fact."

Absolutely! We suffer from people's pre-judgement all the time. But may favourite bit is when you say:

"I learnt a new skill which I think may prove to be invaluable - that, "what the hell? I don't care!" attitude. I'm naked... so what? Shrug. This isn't me!...But it was, it is, and for perhaps the first time in my life, in amongst all the other naked bodies, ... I felt comfortable in my own skin."

It will prove invaluable. I just wish more people could have the experience you have just had - it is what naturism is all about. Do re-live your boyfriend's youth - you'll never regret it. Best of luck!

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Thank you!

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I did the event on Saturday morning too and had the same reservations and nerves that you had. However I knew I would regret it if I didn't do it. I am really glad to have done it.
It was strange being naked in front of so many people you just became another body and didn't feel conspicuous. The last shot with the press there did make me feel vunerable but on the whole the pictures in the papers have been fair. Shame about the comments though. Contrary to popular belief from people who were not there, it was not full of exhibitionists (most people like me were nervous) or perverts. It was as Everyday People.

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As I said, you cannot judge if you haven't taken part - ignore the comments! x

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I was there on the Saturday also! It was very cold but very liberating and awesome! Just wish there was a way to experience it more often.

Nice write-up also!

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I did the Sunday morning shoot and had the opposite experience from Catherine re nervousness, i.e. no one seemed to be the remotest bit nervous from the word go! I expected a bit of trepidation at the first shoot (at Castlefield), but in fact, a bit of a cheer went up when he finally told us to get naked. (Maybe it's because we'd been hanging around so long, while they figured out where to park the buses!) Yes, some people said there was glass on the cobbles at that shoot, as well.

Other things that came to mind:

- I thought there'd be a lot of loudmouthed exhibitionists there. In fact, most of us were very regular people. I couldn't spot any 'common denominator' that would mark us out as potential Spencer Tunick models (though presumably, we make up a tiny minority of the population)
- Quite a few elaborate tattoos in evidence
- Good age range - quite a few students, middle-aged - maybe more people there of retirement age, but he did do one shoot for over-60s only, and one at Concorde for over-45s
- Hardly any black people in among the mix. Only about five, I think, out of 500
- For the one staged in front of a gasometer, he had us grouped into tight clusters of about 30 people each, all walking. Didn't really understand this one - I don't think he's done this before, and Lowry certainly didn't do it.
- I'll also be interested to see the Concorde one, as he didn't photograph Concorde at all - we were all parked underneath one of the wings, which couldn't have been in the shot much, as he was doing mostly close-ups of us
- The others were at the Lowry itself, and on the two double-decker buses. All the women stood in the bus windows, so you could see only their bodies, from the neck to above the knee. The buses had the slogan 'Travel with Courtesy', and some people said it'd make a great ad for the company...
- One chap at the Lowry installation was physically removed from the front and put to the back - apparently because he had such a good tan! Bizarre, but maybe there was some other reason too.
- The guy who let out a massive fart at the same installation got off scot free, despite annoying Spencer ('Don't look at me! Don't look at me! Don't smile! Ready! *FART* Oh Jesus')
- Oddly, Spencer's a lousy public speaker. He got up to talk to us at 6.35, while we were waiting to start at 7.00, and had to step down after a couple of minutes as he couldn't think of anything to say! 'Thanks for coming' or 'You're the best crowd I've ever had' would've been a start!
- Jon, the producer, did tell me we were a good crowd, and the worst he'd ever had was a bunch of nudists in New Jersey (maybe the real professionals wouldn't take direction!)
- Just looking at this pic (taken from an apartment overlooking the Lowry), these images are going to be a LOT different from Spencer's usual stuff. When people are actually doing something (i.e. walking), it's hard not to get an idea of their individuality: http://trunc.it/7p5s6/orig
- I'm not in the above, by the way!

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I was there on Sunday as well and really enjoyed the whole experience, I have to agree with the post about Spencer's public speaking. His ability to direct at times were quite funny, I want you all in a line but no indication of the direction. The continual "Do not look at me" and then "move in this direction" or "Can we have some people on the steps of Concorde" as it filled the announcement "only people over 60".

I thought the Lowry organisation, police and atmosphere at the event excellent.

I do wonder about the last shoot with the double deckers being a female only to be more like a 1970's car manufacturer calendar than a piece of art, but I shall wait and see.

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It would be nice to do it more often, but also I felt it was a real 'once in a lifetime' thing.

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I was part of the Sunday installation. I have never done anything like this before. It was an extraordinary experience and one perhaps I'd like to repeat in the future should Spencer return to the UK. I have no regrets at all and once I'm recognised, as no doubt I will be when the exhibition opens, I'll hold my head up high and proud.

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Super blog. Some great comments about Spencer's poor communication. But it was a great day overall despite one or two problems like glass on the bridge.

http://bit.ly/spencerlowry

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