Holographic portraits

A holographic portrait is a unique three-dimensional image that captures the living presence of a person in light. The portraits have a vividness and wealth of detail impossible to obtain with a photograph.

A holographic portrait is recorded in a few nanoseconds with a ruby pulse laser on a holographic film. It contains a vast amplitude of information about the person as it captures reflected laser light from every direction and angle. The resulting portrait hangs on a wall with a halogen spotlight illuminating it from above.

Holographic portraits at the Holocenter are created by Ana Maria Nicholson, a world-renowned holographic portraitist, whose studio was at the Museum of Holography in New York for a number of years. She has made portraits of such well-known figures as Tony Bennett, Walter Cronkite, rock singer David Byrne, Gloria Steinem Philip Johnson, Keith Haring and George Plimpton.

Tonny Bennet at HOLOCENTER with Ana Maria Nicholson & Dan Schweitzer

The recording of the holographic portrait takes place at the Holocenter studio in Long Island City, five minutes from mid-Manhattan. The sitting lasts from half an hour to 45 minutes, and the finished hologram can be delivered in less than two weeks.