Actor Jeff Bridges got the photography bug in high school. “My dad lent me his Nikon,” says Bridges. “I started out by taking pictures of my family and friends.” As his career blossomed to include more than 50 films, so did his abilities with a camera. He began photographing movie sets more than 28 years ago when his wife gave him a wide format camera.

“I started to get really serious about photography,” says Bridges. “I enjoyed the wide-format because I saw it as a bridge between motion pictures and still pictures. The wide format is similar to the 70 millimeter film used in movies.”

Michelle Pfeiffer on the set of ‘The Fabulous Baker Boys,’ 1989, silver gelatin print. (photo/Jeff Bridges)

This month, Bridges’ work goes on display at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. Consisting of 71 photographs from life on a movie set, “Jeff Bridges — Pictures” will be on view from Nov. 18 to March 13.

Bridges’ exhibit consists of photographs taken from the sets of “King Kong,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” “The Fisher King,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Seabiscuit” and many more and includes actors such as Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Spacey, Tim Robbins, Kim Basinger, Julianne Moore and his brother Beau and father, Lloyd.

“It is interesting to view the work process of making a film,” says Bridges. “It is not always as romantic as one may think.”

“I hope people walk away from my exhibit perhaps with a different idea about what making movies is all about,” says Bridges. I think that 20 to 30 years from now movies may be made very differently, so in a way my photographs have a historical value to them.”

— Maya Ellman