A life in ‘Pictures’

Twenty-SEVEN years ago, actor Jeff Bridges began using a 35-millimeter Widelux camera to snap behind-the-scenes glimpses of the films he has worked on. Now he’s gathered some of his favorites together into a single volume, simply titled “Pictures” (Powerhouse Books, 192 pps., $45).

His images are both strangely familiar and slightly surreal, documenting a kind of alternative reality that never makes it to the screen: Rosie Perez doing a wardrobe test during “Fearless”; Robin Williams riffing between takes of “The Fisher King”; Michelle Pfeiffer grabbing a cigarette break from “The Fabulous Baker Boys”; Bridges himself, shooting a self-portrait with his father, Lloyd, on the set of “Blown Away.”

Many of these images, plus several new ones, are on view at Santa Monica’s RoseGallery through December; proceeds from the book and exhibition will go to the Motion Picture & Television Fund. Here’s a preview.