Almost a thousand… naked people gathered during the night on the streets and beaches of Kuopio, in central Finland, to participate in the new project of the well-known American photographer Spencer Tunick.

“Today, the land of a thousand lakes has turned into a land of a thousand nakeds,” said Tunik himself, who is famous for gathering huge crowds and photographing them naked.

The participants, guided by loudspeakers, posed on the flower-strewn streets and then on the beach and in the lake.

“I wanted to place the (naked) bodies in Kuopio and the lakes of northern Finland,” said the photographer, expressing gratitude to the volunteers who did not hesitate to take off their clothes in the night. “It is very rare that the public is given the opportunity to participate in the creative process,” commented the artist.

Last November, almost 2,500 people gathered, naked, on a well-known Sydney beach, as part of another project by the artist who wanted to raise public awareness of skin cancer. The event, titled ‘Strip for Skin Cancer’, was organized in partnership with an association that urges Australians to see a dermatologist regularly.

Spencer Tunick is known for his nude photo shoots all over the world. He managed to “undress” 5,000 people outside the Sydney Opera House in 2010 and 18,000 (his record to date) in the Zocalo, the central square of Mexico City, in 2007.