Like so many, we are saddened to learn of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. A phenomenal woman whose long life was devoted to the duty to others, she embodied the very essence of grace, dignity and unity. Queen Elizabeth II was constant presence in an ever shifting world. As the world over, our thoughts and condolences are with the Royal Family as we mourn the passing of HRH Queen Elizabeth II, remembering her lifelong devotion and contribution to this country; we honour her legacy.
Born in 1926, Queen Elizabeth II oversaw the evolving nature of photography more than any monarch in history. As the ceremonial head of state and realm, she witnessed the developments of image-making through painting and photography, television and film, and now social media. The monarchy's shared affinity with the public was mediated through the influence vested in their appearance and recited through photography to democratise the royal image. 'I have to be seen to be believed', Queen Elizabeth II once remarked. Her appreciation of photography ensured that while the monarchy has a sense of tradition and contance, its image is one of progress in an ever shifting world.
With the advancement of culture and technology, royal portraiture has developed alongside the monarch's understanding of the power of photography and digital imagery. These photographic portraits unite the paradoxes of royal image-making: between public figure and private individual, intimacy and majesty. Rob Munday and Chris Levine's exceptional photographic works presented at Dellasposa Gallery are emblematic of the Queen's embrace of the medium in the twenty-first century.
-
![Chris Levine and Rob Munday, Queen Elizabeth II [Equanimity], 2004-2017](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
-
Equanimity is the first-ever three-dimensional stereographic portrait of The Queen. Commissioned in 2003 by the Jersey Heritage Trust, this portrait resulted from a shared creative collaboration by artists Chris Levine and Rob Munday to commemorate the island's 800-year allegiance to the Crown. While two sittings took place, over 8,000 images were captured to create this three-dimensional portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. On display at Dellasposa Gallery, visitors will notice how The Queen's gaze follows the viewer as one moves around the picture. To shoot the parallax image sequences required for the holographic image, Rob Munday designed and built his own high-speed, high-resolution, translating camera system – the VIP (Video Images with Parallax) – especially for the commissioned work with Queen Elizabeth II. Over the past eighteen-years, this portrait has become well known in two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms.
-
Peter Blake
Union Flag, 2016Screenprint in colour and diamond dust on wove paper
Signed by the artist and numbered, on recto
72.2.cm x 98.5cm
Edition of 75 -
Rob Munday returned to his archives while isolating in France during the pandemic. Looking through the images taken from the 2003 and 2004 sittings with The Queen, he unearthed a video sequence only one second long. 'I recalled that I had shot it as a test to check the usual creative variables of focus, exposure, lighting and composition as The Queen readied herself just prior to commencing the actual shoot', says Munday. It had remained unnoticed for over eighteen years, unseen by anybody, and thus became the catalyst for the new Felicity [Platinum Queen], released in 2022 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee.
-
-
'The portrait showed a wonderful and natural moment of joyfulness,' the artist Munday recounts. 'The twinkle in The Queen's eye and her somewhat whimsical expression demonstrated the close bond of trust between Her Majesty and her long-term friend and dresser, which continues to this day. It is an uplifting portrait, full of life and vitality, and a befitting tribute to The Queen and her friend on the occasion of Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee.'
-
![Chris Levine and Rob Munday, Queen Elizabeth II [Equanimity], 2004-2017](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_620,h_620,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/dellasposa/images/view/b543c13391c85dceb82ef969ef4826a1.jpg)
![Rob Munday, Felicity [Platinum Queen], 2004-2022](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_620,h_620,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/dellasposa/images/view/168ebe7acf9bd529b86260e7ec536047.jpg)
![Rob Munday, Felicity [Platinum Queen], 2004-2022](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_620,h_620,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/dellasposa/images/view/62cbfa8d2adf9cc6e692fa21caa80282j.jpg)