“The Queen’s daily life is so full of responsibility and duty that it was wonderful to see this fleeting moment of relaxation and pleasure.”
In 1981, Rob Munday was “immediately smitten”, when passing a London photography gallery and glimpsing one of the first holograms ever made. It was in that moment that he realised “holography was the perfect blend between science and art; I knew from that moment that I would spend the rest of my life making holograms”. This, alongside graduating from Plymouth University with a degree in Scientific and Technical Graphics, resulted in him founding his own, private holography studio. In the early 90s, Munday built the world’s first 3D digital hologram printer, leading to his creating of the first 3D digital holograms. These works must be seen in real life to fully experience their magnificence, as they allow the viewer to see a three-dimensional image with their naked eye. He has been commissioned by an impression array of famous faces, such as fashion legend, Karl Lagerfeld, Hollywood icon, Angelina Jolie, and rock-n-roll stars, Noel and Liam Gallagher.
Munday’s career-defining moment came in 2003, when he was asked to shoot and create the first ever holographic portrait of The Queen. This resulted in him becoming the first-ever Royal holographer. This portrait instantly became one of the most iconic, recognisable ones of Her Majesty, and was use in countless contexts, such as the £100 bank note, on the cover of ‘Time Magazine’ and was voted as the favourite portrait in the ‘National Portrait Gallery’. “At the time, I was using a video camera to capture the shot and when you do these shoots, you take hundreds of frames at a time… I went through each frame, but this one frame showed the Queen in an incredibly natural pose with a twinkle in her eye and a whimsical smile.
The portrait Equanimity was co-created by the artist/holographer Rob Munday and the artist Chris Levine, under a joint creative collaboration. The portrait was commissioned by The Jersey Heritage Trust to commemorate the Island of Jersey's 800-year allegiance to the English throne.