Naked sunbathing creating a stir in San Diego, but still okay

by Jamie Rhein on

Just last week a judge ruled that sunbathing in the nude at San Onofre State Beach in San Diego is still allowed.

Earlier this summer there was a brouhaha because the California Department of Parks and Recreation wanted to ban nude sunbathing, even though beaching it in the buff has been allowed here for decades.

The parks and recreation department said that some sunbathers were being lewd near Trail 6. Sunbathers who just sun themselves and frolic in their birthday suits felt that the ban was uncalled for since most behave themselves.

According to this article at San Diego 6 News, the judge has ruled that the people who will be cited for being without their clothes are only those that someone in the public complains about–otherwise, sans clothes is fine–for now.

Considering that there are many public beaches from which to choose in California, it seems that if people don’t want to see people sunbathe in the nude, go somewhere else–or if you do go here, stay away from Trail 6.

Spencer Tunick: Nudes, landscapes and global warming

by Jamie Rhein on

At a recent trip to my son’s dentist, I was flipping through the latest issue of Time Magazine and came across a photo of hundreds of nude people standing on Aletsch Glacier in Switzerland. The photo was taken by Spencer Tunick on August 18 as Tunick’s effort to show the vulnerability of people and the planet due to global warming–an interesting, and certainly eye catching approach.

(The photo here is of participants walking up the glacier before their clothes came off. It’s on the Aletsch Glacier page of the Spencer Tunick Experience Web site. Yes, there’s a nude photo there as well.)

I find Tunick’s work tasteful and compelling, perhaps because I grew up in a house filled with art and surrounded by artists. Perhaps, I find Tunick’s work intriguing because there are so many people of all shapes, sizes and skin tones represented that the individual becomes part of the whole. As a person with a sociology background, people in groups draw me into the idea of the bigger picture of life and relationships. This is perhaps part of Tunick’s point. Seeing the photo in Time Magazine reminded me of my own missed Tunick opportunity.

A few years ago, a friend emailed me about participating in a Spencer Tunick photo shoot outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Sure, I’m game, I thought, and registered. The photo shoot date was switched, however, and I had a conflict, so I was unable to participate after all. I wasn’t sure that I would have anyway, but it was a gleeful thought. My friend did show up along with hundreds of other people, for the event and thought the experience was wonderful and liberating. She ended up with a limited edition of the official photograph for her efforts and an interesting story to tell. She did mention how cold the ground was at that time in the morning.

Tunick’s most recent shoot was in Miami, Florida this past October. The photographs are on exhibit through the end of this month at the Sagmore Art Hotel in Miami. The one here is from the exhibit. If you can’t tell, it’s of men on rafts.

If you have a hankering to have a travel experience you won’t likely repeat elsewhere, register to participate in a future Spencer Tunick photography event. I’m sure he’s not done yet, so who knows where such an endeavor might take you.

Nudist tourism: drop your clothes and go on vacation!

by Abha Malpani on


My first real experience of a “nudist” anything, was last year when I went to the Balearic Island of Formentera. It all began when our host picked us up from the port butt-naked. We had never met him before, but for him to stand there naked and welcome us onto the island was as normal as having coffee for breakfast. I was momentarily scandalized, but it didn’t take me long to laugh about it.

5-days on a nudist island and you’d think I’d be comfortable to join the gang at least on day 4. But no. I was the only loser with my bikini on and I stuck out like a sore thumb; I just couldn’t do it without being super self-conscious!

A bit of research online and I found cults of people and organisations who only want to be able to travel naked: “dedicated to the wholesome acceptance of the human body and the enjoyment of nude recreation”, as Hill Country Nudists like to put it.

According to Australian News, nudists can choose from 270 clubs, resorts and campgrounds in the US, and the American Association of Nude Recreation estimates that nudists contribute about $400 million into the global tourism industry.

However, nudity doesn’t always sell: California based nudist travel group Lifestyles Tours and Travel, a company that organizes adult-only holidays has just filed for bankruptcy as it owes $110 million to 49 creditors.

Big money, big market huh! And the only difference is that clothing is optional!

Glacial Shrinkage: Taking one for the Environment

by Neil Woodburn on

What do glaciers and shrinkage have in common?

Two things when you combine glaciers with global warming and naked bodies.

Photographer Spencer Tunick, who has been making quite a name for himself by taking pictures of mass nudes, has recently turned his lens towards a good cause: global warming.

The photographer, who never seems to have a problem drumming up nude models, enlisted the help of 600 people who hiked to Switzerland’s Aletsch glacier this morning, took off all their clothes, and posed for the largest mass nude shot ever taken on a glacier (I’m taking a wild guess on this one).

The event was to draw attention to the plight of Europe’s rapidly decreasing glaciers, most of which are expected to disappear by 2080 if warming trends continue. The Aletsch glacier itself has receded 377 feet in the last two years and has become the poster child of global warming within Europe. 600 naked people frolicking on its slopes probably haven’t helped in keeping temperatures low, but has at least raised some awareness about the issue amongst those searching for porn on the internet.