I owned a Widelux camera once. They’re a funny, quirky camera, called a ‘swing lens’. Fully mechanical, shooting 35mm film and working like an obscure Victorian timepiece, they’re tricky suckers to be proficient with. They shoot panoramic images onto 35mm film stock using a slit-lens that swings through an arc using springs and gears. Small and compact, with art deco styling, I bought mine used of eBay and with hindsight, I bought it at the wrong time in my career. I’d just moved into a fully digital workflow, back in 2002, which was taking up a lot of my patience back then. I didn’t give myself time to learn it, it sat in my camera bag alongside my Canon EOS digital bodies, never being used. I succumbed to an offer from a colleague for it, which I now regret.
Jeff Bridges has owned his for more that thirty years. I recall a Sunday Times Magazine feature about his on-set Widelux photography a few years ago and found it fascinating. In this video, he talks about his thirty year journey with his Widelux, his books that he creates for the crew of every feature film he works on and some of the moments he’s captured. A great short video, take a look, he’s got a great voice and he’s a true photography enthusiast.
Jeff Bridges is an Academy Award-winning actor. He is also an accomplished photographer. He’s been taking pictures on the set of his movies for more than 30 years, capturing intimate and surprising behind-the-scenes moments. See the project at http://mediastorm.com/clients/2013-icp-infinity-awards-special-presentation-jeff-bridges
