“Way too many people want to get naked in Australia,” photographer Spencer Tunick told Limelight. “[More] than anywhere else in the world… besides Mexico. A good thing for me as my medium is people.”

Tunick has made work in Australia twice before, the first time in 2001, photographing 4,500 naked people with the Melbourne skyline as a backdrop, and the second time in Sydney for an event that carpeted the steps of the Sydney Opera House in 5,000 nude bodies. He’s got Melbourne in his sights once more, however, with his next Australian work, Return of the Nude, to take place in Chapel Street as the headliner of the 2018 PROVOCARÉ Festival.

Spencer Tunick, Sydney Opera House, Return of the Nude5,000 people stripped for Spencer Tunick’s 2010 photo at the Sydney Opera House. Photo © Spencer Tunick

“Chapel Street reminds me of the East Village in New York, Sunset Strip in LA, and San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury, but all combined into one juggernaut,” Tunick said in a media release. “I think people from Melbourne are a little braver because of their willingness to pose no matter the weather. I get a sense of resilience and...