Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Don't Get Wasted in Europe


Spencer Tunick Picture, originally uploaded by laurajswisher.

I've got a lot of things to worry about in general, without having to worry about corrupt foreign cops.

I was reading CNN online and came across this harrowing tidbit:

British detectives said on Monday they had launched an inquiry into claims police staff had been selling close-up pictures of a huge group of naked people who took part in a photo shoot for a U.S. artist.


The artist is Spencer Tunick. He goes around the world and takes photos of naked crowds. When I was in Belgium a while back, I read a post on Craigslist that there was a naked photo shoot scheduled that day. I was drunk at the time. I decided to take part in it. If you look really really really really closely, in the wee background, you can see me.

At the time I thought nothing of it. But today, I now learn that my privacy might be violated thanks to public nudity. This is very unjust. When people take their clothes off en masse and lay down on an historic promenade in the middle of a city for a picture, we assume we'll have a modicum of privacy. What kind of person whips out a camera when he/she stumbles across hundreds of naked people? I'll tell you what kind: a government official.

I can only pray that Belgian officials didn't get wind of this, or that CCTV cameras weren't yet in place to capture this art event. I have a mole that I don't want anyone to see, unless that someone is laying down next to me naked. Hopefully the man masturbating next to me took focus away from me.

Damn! It's going to be really hard to sleep at night.

Still, it's a good thing the government is able to videotape all its citizens. You never know what naked group photo a terrorist will infiltrate.

To sound off on this story, call: 206-333-0272

5 comments:

Tim said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
VagabondLoafer said...

Velveeta, what they ought to do is junk those vehicles and send the $100 directly to the owners. A library near me in wide-open suburbia wants to start charging to park in their lot. Next thing you know the library will want to charge a ‘modest fee’ to borrow each book. The government always wants a pirates cut of the cake for doing anything for us.
As for New Orleans, they were a corrupt, dysfunctional and dying city before Katrina hit. The talk of a new and better N.O. after the storm is even more laughable now than it would have been before the city’s almost complete destruction.

Laura, I stared intensely at that point in the image for hours. Stared until I had to continually wipe the blood, sweat and tears from my eyes. I think if I’m not hallucinating, I could just barely make you out. Laura, you’re one pretty pixel!!!

duboisist said...

Let's be honest.
If you were in the crowd naked it would have cause too much of a ruckus for the guy to get the photo he wanted. He would probably get angry enough knowing that you interfered with his art by putting the spread-eagle guy in.

Baked Beenz said...

Good to hear from someone else who was in one of those photos. Like you, I'm way in the back.
As for being shocked at someone selling your naked image, don't be since Spencer makes a pile of dough from prints of these pictures. Plus, they are usually done in public where clothed crowds always swarm for a look. I guess the main objection would be that the police are doing it, and all I can say to that is, well, it's Europe. What do you expect?

Keep up the good work.

Unknown said...

is that guy really masturbating??!! how did YOU get this picture? unless you are the woman next to him.

maybe someone has your close ups too?
do you have your close ups? :)