Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie posed with hundreds of live bees for 18 minutes in an attempt to recreate the iconic 1981 Richard Avedon portrait. The image of beekeeper Ronald Fisher appeared in his book, The American West.
Drawing inspiration from that image, Jolie’s pictures from the recent photoshoot were released on the occasion of Bee Day by photographer Dan Winters. Jolie collaborated with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and French beauty brand, Guerlain for this initiative.
Under this initiative, 2500 beehives will be built and restocked with 125 million bees by 2025 and 50 women beekeepers will be trained and supported in their own operations. In order to promote this initiative, Jolie wanted to do a portrait covered in bees.
Dan, who is a beekeeper, was concerned about her safety as the shooting was to take place in the midst of the pandemic. The only way out was to use the same technique that Avedon used 40 years ago to create his portrait. An entomologist was contacted and he formulated the specific pheromone known as queen mandibular pheromone. This was dabbed on Jolie’s skin to ensure that the bees did not feel threatened and they were seen buzzing across her body.
