• Naked valkyries? Nudes open German opera season

    Luca Teuchmann / Getty Images Contributor

    Naked volunteers painted in red and gold pose for American photographer Spencer Tunick in scenes meant to illustrate the opera "Der Ring des Nibelungen" by Richard Wagner at Max-Joseph Platz in Munich, Germany, Saturday.

    By Ian Johnston, msnbc.com

    Naked volunteers painted in red and gold on Saturday recreated American photographer Spencer Tunick's interpretation of scenes from the Richard Wagner opera "Der Ring des Nibelungen."

    The art installation, in Max-Joseph Platz, Munich, Germany, was held to mark the opening of the 2012 Munich summer opera season, according to information supplied with these photographs by Luca Teuchmann, a Getty Images contributor.

    Tunick was invited to create the work by the Bavarian State Opera.

    According to his website, Tunick has been documenting the "live nude figure in public" since 1992.

    Luca Teuchmann / Getty Images Contributor

    The Bavarian State Opera invited American photographer Spencer Tunick to create the photographs as part of the opening of the 2012 Munich summer opera season Saturday.

    "Tunick's installations encompass dozens, hundreds or thousands of volunteers; and his photographs are record of these events," the website says.

    "The individuals en masse, without their clothing, grouped together metamorphose into a new shape. The bodies extend into and upon the landscape, like a substance," it adds. "These grouped masses, which do no underscore sexuality, become abstractions that challenge or reconfigure one's views of nudity and privacy."

    Luca Teuchmann / Getty Images Contributor

    Naked volunteers form up in red and gold columns in Max-Joseph Platz Munich, Germany.

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