We're the naked stars of CCTV

Spencer Tunick with nude models. Picture / Reuters

LONDON - When 1700 volunteers shed their clothes on a bright but cold Tyneside morning last July, they thought they were chancing nothing more than an unpleasant chill.

Now it turns out they may have left a more prurient legacy than the series of official pictures, taken by the American photo artist Spencer Tunick, which hang in Gateshead's Baltic arts centre.

Close-up surveillance camera images of some of the naked participants have been offered for sale to drinkers in Tyneside pubs, and Northumbria police have begun an investigation into "possible misuse of CCTV footage".

"We've spoken to a number of officers and police staff and as a result two members of staff are in the process of being suspended," said Deputy Chief Constable David Warcup.

Tunick has photographed thousands of naked people - "human sculptures" - around the globe. His largest project involved 7000 people disrobing in Barcelona in 2003. Models for the Gateshead photo included postmen, midwives and pensioners.

"These shoots are definitely not sexual," he said. "To see people rising, falling, taking shape, was amazing. It's sensual. To have so many bodies in one space produces a tension on that space."

- INDEPENDENT