Philanthropist, Photog, Politician, Actor: Who Is Brad Pitt?

"Brad was involved in every single aspect of that project, from coming up with the idea for the shape of the staircases in the houses, to the roofs," he said. "Every aspect. Every community meeting. He knows well the people of the lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans now. I think it's safe to say he'll continue his focus there."

It seems Brad Pitt's passion has shifted from acting to just about everything else: building homes in New Orleans, supporting gay marriage and photographing Angelina Jolie.

(W Magazine/Reuters)
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Tom Darden, Make It Right's executive director, remembers one meeting in particular:

"I watched him turn around a community group who was angry at the world, angry about the levee breach, saying they were sick and tired of people coming and saying, 'I'm going to help,' but then never follow through. He said, 'Keep talking. I want to hear where you're coming from.' He was able to single-handedly turn that meeting around. He's sincere and people know he's there to help."

In addition to Make It Right, Pitt is behind Not On Our Watch, an organization dedicated to bringing attention and resources to ravaged regions like Darfur. In September, he donated $1 million to Human Rights Watch and $2 million to the Global Heath Committee via the Jolie-Pitt Foundation.

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But Pitt pursues nonphilanthropic projects, too. Take his latest: Photographing Jolie for W magazine. His shot of her breastfeeding one of their newborn twins graces the cover of the November issue, which also features his portraits of intimate family moments, such as Jolie biting into a hamburger and laughing with son Maddox. Pitt reportedly used a no-longer-produced Kodak Tech Pan film specially shipped to him from Tel Aviv for the black-and-white photos he shot at his chateau in the South of France.

Case Study #13 no. 13, 2005; shot by Steven Klein

According to Steven Klein, who shot Pitt and Jolie for a 2005 W magazine spread (two of his black-and-white portraits of Pitt and Jolie are being auctioned tomorrow by Phillips de Pury & Company), Pitt has natural knack for the art of photography.

"Brad has a sixth sense," he said. And talking about Pitt as a subject, he added, "He intuitively gives me what I need. This process is unspoken between us but understood." Klein noted that Pitt wanted the spread with Jolie to be one "of substance, something to remember," and the couple was willing to put in the time to make that happen.

Case Study #13 no. 18, 2005; shot by Steven Klein