The Munich Opera Festival 2012 kicked off today at 3am when around 1,700 Germans whipped their kit off for photographer Spencer Tunick in the 13°C chill.
Tunick's latest installation 'The Ring' is inspired by Andreas Kriegenburg's new Ring cycle production for the Bavarian State Opera. The naked volunteers were body-painted in either red or gold. Shortly after dawn Tunick took his first photos on Ludwigstrasse, when hundreds of bodies formed a flame symbolic of Wagner's Nibelheim.
More photos below - don't look too closely or you'll never be able to eat Weisswurst again..
![218419613-1700-muenchner-ziehen-sich-tunick.9[1]](http://featherfiles.aviary.com/2012-06-23/f77694d11/5e90c2cb66694eadbfd0208d2825e276_hires.png "218419613-1700-muenchner-ziehen-sich-tunick.9[1]")
