First there was Brad Pitt's photo of Angelina Jolie on the November cover of W. Then came Pitt tipping his hat to New Orleans on the January cover of Architectural Digest. Now W gives over its February cover (pictured) to an extreme close-up of the actor, who was photographed by the one, the only Chuck Close.

It was Pitt's idea. "When W asked the megstar to appear on the eighth annual A-list cover, he had one, and only one, request for a photographer: Chuck Close," writes deputy editor Julie Belcove in her Letter from the Editors. The resulting series of Close-snapped daguerrotypes spares no enlarged pore or forehead wrinkle. "You can't be the fair-haired young boy forever," says Close. "Maybe a photograph of him with his crow's-feet and furrowed brow is good for him. It humanizes him. It makes him less of a cinema god and more of a person." Plus, if you slowly move the cover away from your face, Pitt appears to age in reverse (a subtle hint to Oscar voters?).

Previously on UnBeige: