Naked Aussies to descend on Opera House

The Sydney Opera House will be transformed into a picture of mass nudity when thousands of Australians bare all on the steps of the landmark in March.

Renowned artist Spencer Tunick, famous for photographing masses of naked people in public, says his next installation will take place in Sydney on March 1.

Tunick says he's hoping to get more than 2000 people to strip off for his work, which aims to create a human base for the Opera House.

"The people will be either standing, intertwined, reclining," Tunick told AAP from Hawaii.

"No yoga positions," he laughed.

"But mostly easy to do positions, that will reflect the surface of the steps to turn into a human canvas of sorts."

The installation will go ahead rain, hail or shine.

The New-York based photographer has completed works on every continent, including Antarctica, but admitted it was sometimes difficult to find people "to take that leap of faith".

He urged the adventurous to sign up.

"It's not as easy as you think," Tunick said.

"I'm not trying to convince anyone who doesn't want to do it – I'm just trying to get the people that are on the fence to come and show up.

"You'll have an incredibly good time. It's very fulfilling."

Tunick, who photographed thousands of naked people in Melbourne in 2001, first scouted the Opera House as a location almost 10 years ago.

This latest work had been commissioned by the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, but was for people of all sexual orientations, Tunick said.

A New Mardi Gras spokeswoman says the group has been in discussions with Tunick for two years about his Sydney project, and received approval from the City of Sydney, the Opera House Trust, the Royal Botanic Gardens, and the police.

The City Of Sydney contributed A$20,000 towards the project, she said, but she would not reveal the total cost, saying only that it was "a lot".

Tunick's work is now less controversial than his first photo shoots of naked people in the streets in the mid-1990s, but he says public nudity is still a hot topic.

"The naked body in film, in theatre in television is quite accepted at this point but as far as the naked body in public space I think there's still a lot of area to work on there," he said.

"It's difficult."

Looking ahead, Tunick says there's still many places he'd love to create installations including in the caldera of a volcano, eastern Europe and the Caribbean.

"You never know, I might end up in Perth one day," Tunick added.

All Australians wishing to take part in Spencer Tunick's Sydney installation must register their interest at www.mardigras.org.au/tunick

- AAP