Display holography is a term usually used to define the use of the medium for purely visual purposes with no scientific intent. I am using it here as a means of differentiating works that are produced  for sale in commercial galleries or for museum displays and trade fairs, from those with a more distinctly fine art approach.

Some holographers walk the tightrope between fine art and display so may appear in either category. I apologise to those who consider I have put them in the wrong one, but there is no insult intended.

Having worked in all categories of holography, Art, Display & Commercial, I have the greatest of respect for anyone who succeeds in making good holograms of whatever type. Indeed since, if I was left alone with a laser and a box of plates, I would probably struggle to make any kind of hologram, I take my hat off to holographers in general.

The first display holographers I  met, in 1978, were Jeff Blyth (then at Hollusions) and Nick Phillips (Advanced Holographics), both pioneers in their fields and instrumental in the way reflection holography developed in the 1980s.

A year or so later I saw a hologram being made for the first time, by David Hamson who worked in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Loughborough University (Nick Phillips was in the Physics Dept). It was like watching a magician at work – having carefully exposed and processed the laser transmission hologram, he replaced it in the plate holder, illuminated it with the argon laser he was using, and the image matched up perfectly with the object he had just recorded. He then removed the object and the holographic image remained. You had to be there…

The UK has always been very strong in display holography and I would place Rob Munday, Mike Medora, and Hans Bjelkhagen (originally from Sweden) amongst the very best holographers ever. Inaki Beguristain belongs in that list too but you will find him in the Art category due to the abstract nature of the first hologram of his that I acquired. If I were to single out anyone from the rest of the world working currently, it would have to be Yves Gentet, whose full colour work received a round of applause when he first showed it in the UK.

Image: Dogs of Fo, Colour Holographic

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