PRESS RELEASE

London - New Vision

A 3D printed photography exhibition opening on 19th July at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5

This project is supported by

3D empowerment

2D digital imaging empowered us all - the capture and sharing of images became free and easy and apps made creative control simple and powerful. Now at the dawn of 3D image capture we have the same opportunity to shoot, create and best of all we can now both see and touch our own creations. Just as in the 2D revolution, 3D software is rapidly becoming both accessible and mostly free - a whole new world is opening up before us. The art of Photogrammetry (creating 3D from 2D photos) has primarily focused on reproducing objects such a sculptures and antiquities - this exhibition is all about liberating this technology, taking it out into the streets and bringing our visions home.

The exhibition

A ground breaking 3D photography exhibition at London’s Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 by photographer Henry Reichhold running from 19th July 2016 for 3 months.

This exhibition sets out to use a variety of technologies to enable its artworks to merge London’s fantastic architecture with the people who fill its streets. The project goes far beyond the capture of static objects and challenges preconceptions on how we use photogrammetry. The result is a whole new art form - all from your camera. From Piccadilly Circus to the bus depot and picnics in the park, this exhibition is all about our people in our city, always changing, always fascinating.

Artist impression of exhibition which opens 19 July 2016.

3D printing and the project

The impact of 3D printing on our lives is as ubiquitous as it is varied - from dentistry to art 3D printing is transforming our lives. At the core of this project, 3D printing makes the conceptual real and enables the kind of experimentation that encourages new thinking and expands our horizons. 3D printing has allowed this project to quickly test and implement new ideas, so concept can become reality in a short space of time. The project's workflow starts with standard digital images which are then processed, 3D printed and then cold cast in bronze resin. 3D printing artworks on this scale is quite an undertaking - to print one of these sculptures using just one 3D printer would take about 10 days. Instead 20 printers were used to simultaneously print the parts. These ‘PLA' plastic parts were then joined together and cast in Bronze resin - a process that took a further five days to finish.

How this is achieved - capturing static objects

The sculptures in this exhibition are the result of a process that starts with standard 2D digital images. To bring these 2D images into 3D requires a series of images to be taken around a subject in order to capture as much detail as possible. The statue of Peter Pan on the left side of the image below was made from 200 high resolution images.

Capturing people

Capturing static objects is one thing, but working with people on location creates a whole new set of challenges. People do not stand still for long so the capture time has to be quick. The standard procedure for capturing people is to take the subject into a studio where they pose surrounded by some times as many as 200 cameras. The creative restraints imposed by this system are apparent so the artist got around these limitations by shooting with a Nikon D5 high speed camera that allowed him to capture 140 images in just 10 seconds - so opening up a whole new world of content and allowing 3D capture virtually anywhere.

Processing the 2D data

The 2D images are uploaded to Autodesk ReMake software where they are ‘cloud’ processed - turning the 2D pixels into 3D triangles. The resulting 3D file can be post processed in other software such as ArtCAM Premium to achieve final result. More information can be found on this process here http://remake.autodesk.com and here http://www.artcam.com/pro/

About the artist

Henry Reichhold is no stranger to ground breaking projects - his mobile phone photography work with Nokia was hugely influential and spearheaded the artistic use of mobile phone imaging, see e.g. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3879633.stm With ‘London - New Vision' he takes 2D photography into 3D with a seamless understanding of how art and technology can merge together to create something really exiting and really new. Henry is based in London and is a part time lecturer at Central Saint Martins, his recent work can be seen at www.reichholdarts.com

Exhibition location and dates

The exhibition opens on the 19th of July and runs until the 19th of October 2016 - there is 24/7 access to the exhibition easily by road, rail and underground. The exhibition is situated at Heathrow Airport’s land side Terminal 5 departures (zone G) so allowing free access to all - no passport required!

For further information or any other enquires, please contact Henry on

e-mail : henry @reichholdarts.comurl: www.reichholdarts.comHenry Reichhold is on Facebook

Technical details:The exhibition was captured using a Nikon D5 camera created with AutoDesk ReMake/Fusion and ArtCam Premium. 3D printing by Ultimaker 2 extended, MyMiniFactory and 3DFilaPrint. Casting by PangoStudios.