The intention was to come home and grab some sleep as I’ve been up all night. However, the adrenalin rush from participating in Spencer Tunick’s most recent shoot, in Hull (on the English east coast), as part of their ‘City of Culture’ celebrations has left me buzzing!

The intention was to drive up yesterday, Friday, and stay overnight. However, beds in the city were at a premium, with thousands of others having the same idea, so we drove up in the early hours of this morning.

We’d been given an ‘alarm call’ of 300am, so we left the house around midnight and drove the 100 odd miles to Hull, arriving around 200am. A flask of tea and a couple of sandwiches in the car later…and it was onto the site of the shoot, at Hull’s Queen’s Gardens.

While I’m a naturist, well used to naturist surroundings, this experience was something different. Many, I would imagine, weren’t naturist and there was certainly a sense of friends encouraging each other for their public nude debut.

I’d also suggest that the body paint created a feeling of not being quite naked.

I didn’t feel undressed. I felt I was painted in a blue ‘suit’ of sorts, and if debutants felt the same, I’d imagine it eased their nerves.

The shoot itself was fairly ‘clinical’, but there was a sense of comradeship and camaraderie  between the shots, as we moved locations.

Afterwards, almost every conversation I heard was of how liberating and empowering it had been, and I would agree with that analysis.

More to follow…’Part 2′ takes place tomorrow 😉

Trine