All in the name of art....

Controversial artist and photographer Spencer Tunick has revisited one of his favourite themes - naked people.

Tunick's past glories include draping images of naked bodies in front of the United Nations buildings and for his latest work, he has photographed 500 naked people in South Beach, Miami.

Tunick chose the Sagamore Hotel as the backdrop for his photograph, which he describes as a commentary on excess.

"Obviously, it's about 'the party', about having excess in leisure and about having escapism and fantasy," he explained.

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 maze-like garden and around the hotel's infinity pool.

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 website.

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