Opinion: I stripped naked with thousands of strangers and can’t wait to do it again | SamanthaSMorris
, in homage to the more than 2000 Australians who die every year due to skin cancer.
The last time I stripped off for Tunick was in 2001, on the Princes Bridge in Melbourne. I had flown there from Sydney expressly for this purpose.Still, in the days leading up to the event, I pictured myself crab-walking sideways on to the bridge, struggling to use my two hands to cover my three bits.Photographer Spencer Tunick.But a funny thing happened when I took off my clothes and handed them to my husband, who was standing on the sidelines.
Walking to my spot, I saw to my right a woman with a taut and shiny belly as round as a basketball. She looked to be about nine-months pregnant. To my left was a grey-haired former army sergeant in his 50s, who said he was keen to try something new. There were men and women of every shape, size and colour. A toddler, or two. Once I was surrounded by naked people, and it became the new norm, I realised I wasn’t zero-ing in on anyone’s bits. My hands fell, relaxed, to my sides.
My life is unrecognisable from what it was back then. Both my parents have died. I’ve had three children. My opportunities for seizing life by the balls, in between work deadlines and tending to the mania of child-rearing, have dwindled. Sure, I swim in the ocean, and that makes me feel remarkably present, something I struggle to do. In those moments, my concerns slip away, and with them, my petty judgments of others’ failings. And my own. But I’m far more aware of my own mortality now.
So, come 3am tomorrow, I’ll be starkers at Bondi Beach, hopefully not bothering to suck my stomach in.The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
'Suspicious' fire at Friendlyjordies' Bondi homePolice and firefighters are investigating the cause of the fire but it is believed to be an arson attack. 9News
Read more »
Friendlyjordies’ Bondi home ‘firebombed’, lawyers for YouTuber claimCrime scene established at Jordan Shanks’s residence in Sydney’s east after suspicious fire
Read more »
'Suspicious' fire at Friendlyjordies' Bondi homeThe Bondi home of internet personality Jordan Shanks, aka Friendlyjordies, has been targeted in an alleged arson incident. Mr Shanks was not at the home when the blaze started. 9News MORE:
Read more »
'Suspicious' fire at Friendlyjordies' Bondi homeThe Bondi home of internet personality Jordan Shanks, aka Friendlyjordies, has been targeted in an alleged arson incident. Mr Shanks was not at the home when the blaze started. 9News MORE:
Read more »
Bondi Beach declared a nude beach for the first time in history for art installationIt comes as thousands of naked Sydneysiders will swarm the beach for an art installation raising awareness about skin cancer.
Read more »
Spencer Tunick’s nude photo shoot at Bondi | 7NEWSStanding naked while getting photographed at the beach seems an odd way to fight cancer, but that's exactly what will be happening at Bondi this Saturday. World renowned artist SpencerTunick will create the next edition of his provocative portfolio.
Read more »