That’s a whole Lot of nudes

ARAD: Hundreds of models wearing only white body paint walked across a stark desert expanse in Israel near the Dead Sea as part of the latest photography project of American artist Spencer Tunick.

As for Tunick, dressed, in black, he stood on the roof of a recreational vehicle and issued commands on a megaphone.

“Everyone put your feet together,” he shouted. “Now … hands down!”

The 54year-old photographer said he had chosen to cover the nude models in white paint (pictured) to evoke the Biblical story of Lot’s wife, who was said to have turned into a pillar of salt.

He visited Israel as a guest of the tourism ministry to portray for the third time the shrinking Dead Sea.

“For me, the body represents beauty and life and love,” said Tunick, who has staged dozens of large-scale nude shoots around the world.

He depicted more than 1000 nude models a decade ago on the shores of the salty Dead Sea, which is receding at about a metre every a year.

Israel and Jordan have diverted much of the upstream water for agriculture and drinking water, while mineral extraction and evaporation accelerated by climate change have made the problem worse.