JEFF BRIDGES: The Widelux Camera

Peter Bogdanovich: Lining Up A Shot, Texasville 1990
Photograph (c) Jeff Bridges /All Rights Reserved

Sam Elliot and Jeff Bridges: 'The Stranger' and 'The Dude', The Big Lebowski 1998 Photograph (c) Jeff Bridges /All Rights Reserved

"The Wide-Lux is a fickle mistress; its viewfinder isn't accurate, and there's no manual focus, so it has an arbitrariness to it, a capricious quality. I like that. It's something I aspire to in all my work --- a lack of preciousness that makes things more human and honest, a willingness to receive what's there in the moment, and to let go of the result. Getting out of the way seems to be one of the main tasks for me as an artist." – Jeff Bridges, Intro to PICTURES

JEFF BRIDGES has one of the most creative and enjoyable WEBSITES to explore. Among his drawings, music, and film news, there are a couple of (not to missed) Photo Galleries of his behind-the-scenes photographs of Making Iron Man, The Amateurs, and Crazy Heart, taken with a Widelux camera given to him by his wife, photographer Susan Geston. Also posted on his site are useful tips on using the Widelux.

PICTURES is Jeff Bridges book of photographs taken over twenty years, on dozens of movie sets, published by powerHouse Books/Herter Studio. With a foreword by Peter Bogdanovich, the book includes handwritten captions and personal commentary throughout. The proceeds from the sale of the book go to the Motion Picture & Television Fund, a non-profit organization that offers charitable care and support to film-industry workers.

JeffBridges.com
...And more about making of Crazy Heart
Great Interview: Jeff Bridges with Bernie Glassman here!

DILIP MEHTA: Forgotten Woman Documentary

Watch The Forgotten Woman Trailer

Every widow whom I filmed and who agreed to speak on camera was forthright. There was invariably an outpouring of their souls of emotions that were scarred, of feelings that were suppressed, of hopes and dreams that remained unfulfilled.

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DILIP MEHTA was born in 1952 in New Delhi, India. He's been a Founding Member of Contact Press Images since 1977. Early in his career, he won international acclaim for his coverage of the Gandhi family and his five-year reportage on the 1984 Bhopal tragedy, the worst chemical disaster in history. He has since produced extensive work from the US, the former USSR, China, South Asia and, in particular, from his native India where he is a veteran of the political scene. A regular contributor to the National Geographic, GEO in Germany and France, and Fortune magazine in the USA, in recent years he has documented the effects of widespread modernization on Asian society, especially in his own country.

I was first aware of Dilip's work years ago when his photographs accompanied "Tibet In Exile: Looking Homeward", a Geo Magazine photo essay (May 1981, pp 84-110). The article included, rarely seen at that time, photographs of His Holiness The Dalai Lama in his home in Dharamsala, India. Dilip told me recently his fondest memory "was of His Holiness repairing 2 camera bodies that had inexplicably stopped working while I was photographing him at 4:00 am in his bedroom for Geo."

In his award winning documentary, Forgotten Woman, Mehta offers a view of the life of some women forced to live in poverty in rural India once their husbands have died. The documentary follows Dilip's sister, Deepa Mehta's, Oscar nominated film Water. "Deepa's guiding hand has been present for my entire life. 'Water' certainly galvanized me to make this feature length documentary. The inspiration came entirely from the widows themselves," said Dilip, whose documentaries international screenings include the Dubai International Film Festival and the 2009 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

The film opened in New York with 4 stars–“Mr. Mehta puts an unforgettable face on a problem of unimaginable scope.” Nathan Lee- The New York Times.

THE FORGOTTEN WOMAN

Directed and filmed by Dilip Mehta, and written by Deepa Mehta