PORTRAITS AT SPATIAL IMAGING - HISTORY

Holography was invented in 1948 however it was not until the early sixties that the first simple holograms, as we know them today, were produced under laboratory conditions. In the late sixties holographers began to realise the enormous potential of recording living human beings. Experiments were successfully conducted using a pulsed laser which could freeze the movement of a sitter by emitting a very brief flash of light only thirty thousand-millionths of a second long (30 nanoseconds). Experimentation continued during the seventies however pulsed lasers were both extremely expensive to build and technically complex to operate.

In the early eighties JK Lasers, a British company, and Dr. John Webster, a British scientist, developed a commercially available 'ruby' pulsed laser specifically for recording holograms. Although expensive the laser was relatively simple to use and reliable. Webster experimented with holographic portraiture and, in the early eighties, invited the world's first hologram artist, Margaret Benyon MBE, to record hologram portraits in his laboratory in the South of England.

In 1984, whilst working with the pioneering hologram company Richmond Holographic Studios, Rob Munday, founder of Spatial Imaging Ltd., also recorded holograms of living subjects at Webster's laboratory. These included portraits and some of the world's first holographic animal studies. In 1985, Munday was invited to work with Professor Nick Phillips and Peter Miller, both eminent in the field of holography, to help establish the Holography Unit at the Royal College of Art, London, the first of its kind in the world. In 1985 he designed and built one of the world's first dedicated holographic portrait studios at the Royal College, taught holography and, together with numerous postgraduate artists, developed both the technology and aesthetic of portrait holography. Jeffery Robb, holographer and Creative Director of Spatial Imaging Ltd., also studied holography and produced holographic portraits at the Royal College of Art gaining a Master of Arts degree in Holography with distinction.

In January 1991 Munday left the Royal College of Art to run his own company, Spatial Imaging Ltd. full time. He was fortunate to be able to acquire one of the few existing pulse lasers from pioneer John Webster and set up his own holographic portrait studio. During the intervening years he has produced many notable portraits which have been exhibited in galleries and exhibitions throughout the world. These include those of Oasis band members Noel and Liam Gallagher, pop star Seal, footballer Gary Lineker and TV personality Carol Vordermann.

In 1997 Munday created the International Holographic Portrait Archive. This initiative aims to produce, purchase and exhibit the world's best holographic portraits, preserving people for posterity as fully three-dimensional holographic images.

During the 1990's Munday also pioneered the art of holographic stereography and developed one of the world's first computer automated holographic stereogram printers - the DI-HO (Digital Input - Holographic Output). This hybrid technology, a cross between holography and stereo-photography, enabled the production of full colour holographic portraits from a sequence of photographs, video or film footage. Munday's most recent incarnation of this ground braking technology is the Lightgate 'direct write' digitial hologram printer. Utilising this latest technology it is possible to print full colour, three-dimensional holographic portraits completely automatically from a sequence of digital computer images. Such digital images can be recorded using the company's proprietory digital camera recording system or created from computer modelled portraits such as avatars which can be sent to the company via email through the Internet. A bureau service to produce holographic portraits from internet avatars was initiated in 2000 and branded HOLOMASK. Spatial Imaging Ltd. is currently the only company in the world offering this service.

* The picture above shows Rob Munday holding a snarling lion cub just prior to being recorded as a hologram. Green and blue make-up is necessary to give a realistic skin tone when recording a hologram using red laser light. The hologram was shot using the ruby pulse laser of Southampton University by Dr. John Webster and Richmond Holographic Studios in 1984.