An artist famous for photographing large crowds in the nude is hoping to take his show to a new low - the Dead Sea.

Spencer Tunick wants to stage the unusual event there to draw attention to the environmental threat of receding waters.

Mr Tunick, who is Jewish and whose father and grandmother live in Israel, originally applied in March for permission to shoot at the Tel Aviv port.

The proposal sparked both excitement and anger among politicians and religious groups. But with costs of using Tel Aviv as a backdrop set to rise to £450,000, Mr Tunick decided against it.

Now it appears Israel is on the agenda again, as environmentalist groups are attempting to raise £160,000 to finance a photograph at the lowest point on earth.

If the money is raised, they hope the shoot can take place in spring 2011.

Mr Tunick has pictured nude crowds everywhere from Caracas to Sydney and more recently Salford in Lancashire.

He has used his influence to promote other environmental causes, in 2007 photographing hundreds of naked people in the Swiss Alps to protest against global warming.