Leading Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie recently took part in a photoshoot for the National Geographic magazine where she sat with bees for almost 18 minutes to promote bee conservation on World Bee Day. We see in a video posted by photographer Dan Winters on his Instagram page where bees are moving all over Angelina's shoulders, hands and even her face as she continues to look straight into the camera. He wrote, "Angelina has long been involved with the UNHCR as a special envoy and is currently working with @unesco and @guerlain on a Women for Bees initiative that will ultimately build 2500 bee hives and restock 125 million bees by 2025, while training and supporting 50 women beekeepers in their own beekeeping operations."
Winters continued, "To promote the initiative for World Bee Day, in collaboration with @natgeo, Angelina wanted to do a portrait covered in bees. As a longtime beekeeper myself, when I was given the assignment, my main concern was safety. Shooting during the pandemic, with Angelina, a full crew and live bees made the execution complex. I knew the only way to insure we achieved the desired effect for the photo was to use the same technique that Avedon used 40 years ago to create his iconic portrait "The Beekeeper". I hired my friend Konrad Bouffard, a master beekeeper, to help execute the idea. Konrad contacted the entomologist who formulated the specific pheromone (known as queen mandibular pheromone or QMP) for Avedon and worked with him to capture the unparalleled image of beekeeper Ronald Fisher that appeared in his book The American West. The entomologist offered to let us use some of the pheromone from the Avedon shoot. We used calm Italian bees."
Speaking about the measures taken for the protection of the crew and also the efforts gone into completing the photoshoot, Winters said, "Everyone on set, except Angelina, had to be in a bee suit for protection. I applied the pheromone by hand in the places on her where I wanted bees to congregate. The bees are attracted to the pheromone, but it also encourages them not to swarm. Angelina stood perfectly still, covered in bees for 18 minutes without a sting. Being around bees is always an experience that leaves me in awe. I feel like our offering for World Bee Day has its own roots in photographic history. Creating this portrait exactly 40 years later, not only honors bees and beekeepers everywhere today, but also honors Richard Avedon, his iconic image and the technique by which it was achieved. Happy World Bee Day! @avedonfoundation @roundrockhoney #savethebees #beautyandthebees".
On the work front, Angelina's latest release, Those Who Wish Me Dead, came out in theatres and premiered on HBO Max a few days back, with the actress set to be next seen in Marvel Studios' highly-anticipated, Eternals, scheduled for a theatrical release on November 5, in which she will be seen portraying the fierce Marvel Comics superhero warrior Thena.