Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach was the setting for a mass nude photograph this past Saturday as thousands of Aussies stripped off to raise awareness about the dangers of skin cancer.
Us photographer, Spencer Tunick, directed the sea of individuals, all in their “birthday suits”, via a megaphone.
The naked pic comes with a serious message that melanoma, Australia's most common form of skin cancer, can be deadly. Tunick is famous for organizing large-scale nude shoots and has to date photographed over 75 human installations around the world.
About 2,500 people took part in the shoot.
Today, Saturday the 26th of November, 2022 at the pinnacle of #NationalSkinCancerActionWeek
— Spencer Tunick (@SpencerTunick) November 26, 2022
@SkinCheckChampions and @SpencerTunick invited 2500 people to #StripOffForSkinCancer. Participants paid homage to the lives lost from Skin Cancer in Australia. https://t.co/Dwvy0ASK1K pic.twitter.com/xYd9OjwkUp
South African should also take heed especially as the summer season is upon us. According to cansa.org.za: There are two main categories of skin cancer, namely, melanoma (malignant melanoma) and non-melanoma.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the incidence of both non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancers has been increasing over the past decades, and WHO estimates that a 10 % decrease in ozone levels will result in an additional 300 000 non-melanoma and 4 500 melanoma skin cancer cases globally.
The National Cancer Registry (NCR) has reported the following incidence, namely that 22 712 South Africans were diagnosed with the most common skin cancers (basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma) in 2019 and more than 2 166 were diagnosed with melanoma. Melanoma among South African men is ranked 5th most prevalent cancer – 1 in 168 (NCR 2019) lifetime risk – and as the 6th most prevalent cancer among women – 1 in 266 (NCR 2019) lifetime risk – thus showing an overall increase in skin cancer numbers. This may be due to improved screening methods or an overall increase in these numbers.
Melanoma, is less common than other skin cancers, but it is the most dangerous.
Go to cansa.org.za to find out more.
