One of the most widely and wildly copied photographs, is originally from the great Irving Penn.
Penn remembered that “Bee Stung Lips” had been a popular expression in the 1950s to characterise full, pouty lips. So in 1995, when women started having collagen injected to make their lips fuller, he thought using this idea was a perfect illustration for the Vogue article. The legendary photographer liked to use popular expressions as a starting point for some of his shoots. All they needed to do was to find a model with the best plump lips—and some bees. Yes, the one in the photo is alive. They found a bee-keeper and model Stella Warren sat still for a few hours.
From behind his camera, Penn gave instructions: first he asked her to close her mouth, then open it a little, then a little more.
"We tried many different bees and Estella made different shapes with her mouth. In fact, she became very playful, and at one point, stuck her tongue out and flicked a bee onto it. When a bee began to warm up under the studio lights, the wrangler quickly substituted a colder one."
No photographer or editor or bee was harmed during the shoot. At the end of the day, the bee keeper calmly packed up his colony and took them back home.
Makeup was done by Kevin Aucoin using Dior lipsticks.
