If you haven’t picked up a copy of the July Vogue, you might want to do so to check out some of the amazing stories that Irving Penn shot as part of the magazine’s homage to his 90th birthday and years of brilliant work with them.

I was randomly googling (that word really has become part of our vernacular hmm?) some of the names that Penn has worked with over the years including food stylist Victoria Granoff and Fashion Director Phyllis Posnick and came across this fascinating forum on eGullet from four years back where acclaimed food writer Jeffrey Steingarten answered a question from a fan on the process of the accompanying art for the monthly article he writes for Vogue.

“As for the artwork that accompanies my photos:

Vogue is a picture magazine, and enormous amounts of money and time are expended on the photographs. It’s more important for the photograph that accompanies my pieces to be very fine, from Vogue’s point of view, than that it be a perfectly accurate illustration. Irving Penn is pretty much revered by all of us. (Despite his age and experience, I’d say that between a half and a third of his food photos see the subject in a way that nobody has before.) He has first dibs on every article I write; if he gets excited about doing the picture, we’re all glad and relieved. Then, my piece goes in the center of the book and theoretically gets more space. One sittings editor, Phyllis Posnick, has pretty much sole responsibility to get Mr. Penn excited. If Mr. Penn, as we all call him, unless we call him just Penn , is not interested, the art department and Anna Wintour look to assign the photo to another photographer. Although they’re always looking for one who merits a full color page in the center of the book, the only photographer who has made the grade is Raymond Meier. Raymond has not done a photo recently, but I love working with him. He loves food and knows about it, and we have fruitful discussions before the shoot. Mr. Penn and I converse only through Phyllis. Vogue always prefers pictures that are edgy.

As I rarely turn in my pieces before the photo is taken, I have my input orally with Phyllis and with the food stylist, who is usually Victoria Granoff (and who knows huge amounts about food), and then more often than not with the photographer. I’m happy if the photo 1) is beautiful and perhaps provocative and 2) does not contradict the point of my piece.”