Miami's South beach becomes Tunick's latest human scene

Spencer Tunick, the controversial artist who has draped naked bodies in front of the United Nations and on glaciers, photographed 500 naked people on Monday on South Beach in Miami, Florida.

Tunick chose the Sagamore Hotel as the backdrop for his photograph, which he said is a commentary on excess. "Obviously, it's about 'the party', about having excess in leisure and about having escapism and fantasy," Tunick said of the shoot in the hotel known for its lavish functions and exotic night life.

To achieve that effect he used neon pink and green lilos and about 500 bottles of champagne, which he directed models to simultaneously shake and explode like a human fountain.

They were photographed in groups on four levels of balconies overlooking a mazelike garden and around the hotel's infinity pool. Most were only naked for about 30 minutes.

Tunick, who prefers to be called an artist rather than a photographer, loves the landscape of the human body and playing with props to add "a bit of whimsy," he said. Models are often chosen at random after submitting their photographs to his Web site.

For the South Beach shoot, Tunick personally sifted through the applicants, looking for enthusiasm, not looks, he said. A photographer, a pregnant mother and a medical lab worker were among the models on Monday who sat clothed for several hours in the Florida heat waiting and taking direction.

One participant, Trang Phan, told AP Television she was sure she would be happy with the finished product. Another, Holly DeRosa, said "it was art" and insisted she didn't feel "dirty" to be posing nude.

The photo will be displayed in the hotel's contemporary art collection. Early in his career, Tunick was arrested repeatedly and battled former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for the right to photograph nudes on the street - a case he eventually won.