Body painting urban camouflauge

A model appears to blend into the background as she stands in front of the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Artist Trina Merry employs a meticulous process that relies on models to hold their pose perfectly still for hours as she paints their bodies so they blend into various New York City landmarks.

Camouflauge body painting

Artist Trina Merry, left, paints model Jessica Mellow in colors of the Manhattan Bridge in  Brooklyn, New York. The city’s streets are Merry’s current studio, and the naked body is her canvas. The California artist creates images that seamlessly camouflage her mostly nude models into New York City’s skyline, blending them into the details of the Empire State Building, the Manhattan Bridge, Central Park and other landmarks.

Camouflauge body painting

With her body painted to look like a portion of the Manhattan Bridge, model Jessica Mellow, left, and artist Trina Merry review photographs of Mellow standing in front of the bridge, in Brooklyn, New York. Merry creates images that seamlessly camouflage her mostly nude models into New York City’s skyline, blending them into the details of the Empire State Building, the Manhattan Bridge, Central Park and other famous landmarks.

Camouflauge body painting

A police officer talks to artist Trina Merry, left, after receiving a complaint about her painting a semi-nude model, Jessica Mellow, right, under the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn, New York, July 29, 2014. The art, preserved in photographs, is the result of a meticulous process that relies on models who must hold their pose perfectly still for hours and of New York City’s relatively liberal laws that have no problem with a woman standing topless in the middle of a busy street.

Camouflauge body painting

Model Jessica Mellow, left, poses for a final photograph by artist Trina Merry, in the Dumbo neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, July 29, 2014. Merry is a body-paint artist who seamlessly camouflages her semi-nude models into New York City’s skyline, blending them into Central Park, Coney Island and other famous landmarks.

Camouflauge body painting

Model Jessica Mellow poses in front of the Manhattan Bridge after Trina Merry, a California-based body-paint artist, camouflaged Mellow to blend into the bridge, in Brooklyn, New York. Merry says it takes about six hours to complete a work, which is preserved in photographs before it is quickly washed away.