Jennifer Aniston divorced actor Brad Pitt earlier this year

Court documents filed in Los Angeles claim Peter Brandt observed her "from a great distance through invasive, intrusive and unlawful measures".

The former Friends star said they were shot in a place where she had reasonable expectations of privacy.

Ms Aniston is seeking damages and an order stopping use of the images.

Public space

The 36-year-old, who has starred in a number of films including Along Came Polly, also claimed the photos "could have been taken only by means of trespass".

But Mr Brandt, told the Reuters news agency he believed he obtained the pictures legally from a public pavement and had not yet sold any of them.

"I was 300 yards (274 metres) away and anybody on that hillside could have seen her," he said.

In 2002, Ms Aniston sued a different photographer for allegedly scaling an eight-foot wall to take photographs of her while she was sunbathing in her back garden.

The photos were later published in a number of magazines.

Ms Aniston later settled the case with two publishers.