Australia: Thousands bare all for photo shoot

SYDNEY - They came. They bared. They posed.

An impressive 5200 people braved the early morning chill and shed their clothes to pose naked for the renowned photographer Spencer Tunick at the Sydney Opera House on Monday.

People of all ages, shapes and sizes began arriving at the forecourt from 3am (AEDT) to be part of the mass nude photo, called Mardi Gras: The Base.

The number of people was double what organisers had been expecting - even though about 8000 people registered for the event.

The crowd cheered, clapped and laughed, as Tunick lightened the mood with jokes.

As the sun rose, Tunick instructed participants to do a number of poses, from standing up, lying down, and even embracing cheek to cheek, for over an hour.

"I want all couples to embrace and kiss, all friends to kiss and all strangers to do whatever they want," Tunick said as he directed the crowd.

Even Sunrise presenter Grant Denyer got amongst it.

He stripped off from the media area and ran across to join the nude subjects, to huge cheers from the crowd.

About 2500 people then went on to pose inside the Concert Hall.

Student Art Rush, 19, said he was surprised by the types of people that turned up for the installation, commissioned by the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

"I thought it would be all old people and nudists, but everyone's here. It's great," Rush told AAP.

"I'll never get a chance to do this again, it's not worth being inhibited.

"It doesn't feel sexual, it just feels tribal, a gathering of humanity."

Anna Bruce, 28, who signed up with a friend, said it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"It was easier than I expected, it was really normal, there was no problem with getting our kit off," Bruce told AAP, admitting the hardest part was the embracing poses.

Scott Faulder, 19, joked being part of the installation was "just another excuse to get naked".

"There was a bit of shrinkage, I'm not going to lie," Faulder told AAP.

"I didn't really know what to expect, but it was definitely great."

New York-based Tunick has completed installations on every continent.

He said this latest work sent a positive message.

"Gay men and women lay naked next to their straight neighbours and this delivered a very strong message to the world that Australians embrace a free and equal society," Tunick said.

The number of participants beat the amount that turned out for Tunick's mass nude photograph in Melbourne in 2001, by about 700 people.

- AAP