The Republican National Convention is underway in Cleveland.  In this year in which it seems that the Republicans and Democrats have both nominated the worst candidates they could have possibly chosen, protests seem inevitable.  This week’s GOP Convention was kicked off with photographer Spencer Tunick’s latest project, 100 naked women posing just across the river from the arena where the convention is being held.  Esquire has a piece on it here, but be aware that the photos with the article are not safe for work:  http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a46763/republican-national-convention-nude-women/

I first heard of Spencer Tunick, who has become known for shooting large groups of nude people in very public places, while watching a television show called Real Sex on HBO in the fall of 1993.  In that show, he was merely shooting two or three nude models at a time in various locations in New York City.  I was immediately intrigued.  I had already been modeling nude for art classes for a few years at that point, and I couldn’t help but imagine myself as one of the nude models out on the city streets.  (What really vexed me is that I had just moved back to Texas from New York City, where I could have easily signed up to model, the spring before that show aired.)  That idea of modeling nude in public stayed with me long enough to coalesce into the story told in The “Volunteer”.

The striking thing about Spencer Tunick’s photos, not just of the 100 women this week but all of his past work, is how similar we all are under our clothes.  When naked, we are not CEOs, doctors, lawyers, politicians, or fast food workers; we are just human beings.