It’s no secret that bees are slowly going extinct, but you wouldn’t be able to tell looking at the amount of honey used for Blake Little’s latest art project.

The LA based photographer took on a new project using honey to change our perception of the living form. He was working on another piece, photographing a man eating honey like a bear, when the idea came to him.

Although the bear photos turned out too cliché and strange, he was in awe with how the honey dripped from the guy’s hand. It reminded him of how living things are preserved in amber. And from there came the Preservation photographs.

Honey

Photo courtesy of youtube.com

Little was amazed by honey’s transformation and how it could highlight physical perfection but simultaneously suggest both immortality and death. It’s the idea that everything can be preserved, but in preservation you acknowledge that death is inevitable. It’s a really dark idea, but it’s super cool to think about at the same time—plus, it looks awesome.

Also, honey is the one food item that can actually last forever and never spoil. Preserving his subjects in something in and of itself that never goes bad shows how sick this project really is. 

Gif courtesy of gifyt.com

When Little started the project he wanted to get a variety of different people.

Gif courtesy of gifyoutube.com

Even animals were his submerged in honey. I assume they weren’t harmed in the process.

Gif courtesy of gifyoutube.com

His goal was  to capture different body types and celebrate the diversity of the human form.

Gif courtesy of gifyoutube.com

Little said, “Honey has a way of democratizing people to transform them in a kind of universal way.” He wanted to highlight the unique beauty in all of us, but in the most creative way of course.

Gif courtesy of gifyoutube.con

After seeing this artistic expression and how much time went into the project,the only question left to ask is—exactly how much time did it take to freaking wash all that honey away? Seriously, you’d need like five Turkish baths to get all that gunk off. Just sayin’…

Check out some more of his artwork in motion here:

Feeling in a honey type of mood: