An afterglohe is how a nearly 200-year-old art form, modern technology, and a little light can turn photographs into something entirely different.
At first, they'll notice panels of relieved surfaces and before long, there's usually a question:
“What is that?”
This invites the backlight to be introduced and creates the moment of discovery that is at the heart of an afterglohe.
We created afterglohe around a simple idea: the photographs that mean the most to us shouldn't necessarily disappear into our phones or even fade into the background on a wall. What if there were another way to bring those memories into everyday life? One that invited us to stop, look a little closer, and perhaps tell the story behind them.
The technique that makes that possible isn't new at all.
In fact, it begins with an art form that's nearly two centuries old.
It starts with something called a lithophane
A lithophane is an image created through variations in the thickness of a translucent material.
Unlike a traditional photograph, the image isn't printed onto the surface. Instead, the image is actually formed within the material itself. Thinner areas allow more light to pass through, while thicker areas allow less. When illuminated from behind, those thousands of subtle variations in thickness become highlights, shadows and detail allowing the photograph to appear.
It's one of those things that's much easier to understand once you see it.
The same afterglohe in two kinds of light. In daylight, the photographs appear as a sculpted relief. Once illuminated, varying thicknesses within the canvas allow the images to emerge through light and shadow.
During the day, an afterglohe canvas has an almost sculptural quality. You can see and feel the relief that forms the images.
Add light, however, and it transforms.
Faces emerge. Landscapes take shape. Tiny details become visible. A surface that looked almost imperceivable suddenly reveals the photographs hidden within it.
And remarkably, the idea behind that transformation dates back to the 1800s.
An art form nearly two centuries old
Lithophanes became popular in Europe during the 19th century, particularly beginning in the 1820s. Early examples were painstakingly created in translucent porcelain.
Artisans produced images by hand-carving incredibly detailed variations in the thickness of wax then creating porcelain panels from them. Once fired and placed in front of a light source, the image appeared through the material in shades of light and shadow.
The effect could be remarkably photographic—even though the earliest European lithophanes appeared around the same period that photography itself was still being developed.
Historic Lithophane of Frederick the Great. After a painting by Julius Schrader (1849). Composite by afterglohe from photographs by Elke Wetzig (Elya), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Lithophanes found their way into decorative panels, lamps, nightlights and other objects designed to take advantage of natural or artificial light.
And then, like many old art forms, they largely faded from everyday view.
The principle, however, never stopped working.
Nearly two centuries later, a completely different technology gave the idea new possibilities.
When a centuries-old idea meets 3D printing
Modern digital photography gives us extraordinarily detailed information about every part of an image—from its brightest highlights to its deepest shadows.
Modern 3D printing gives us the ability to translate that information into physical form with equally tiny variations in thickness.
Put the two together, and the centuries-old principle of the lithophane can be recreated with remarkable precision.
A photograph is first converted into a three-dimensional representation. Lighter areas of the photograph correspond to thinner portions of the finished canvas; darker areas become progressively thicker. A 3D printer then builds that canvas one extremely fine layer at a time.
When light passes through the finished piece, the original photograph emerges.
The basic principle sounds wonderfully simple.
Creating a consistently beautiful one isn't quite so simple.
Where precision becomes craftsmanship
Like many things made with modern technology, it's tempting to assume that the machine does all the work.
It doesn't.
The quality of a lithophane can be affected by the original photograph, how that image is prepared, the material being used, layer consistency, temperature, printer calibration, dimensional accuracy, the geometry of the finished piece and even the characteristics of the light illuminating it.
Small variations can make a surprisingly large difference when you're working with layers and changes in thickness measured in fractions of a millimeter.
That's why we've spent so much time refining the process at afterglohe.
We use high-quality 3D printing equipment, carefully calibrated processes and materials selected for the way they transmit light. Photographs are prepared for the process, the canvases are produced with close attention to consistency, and the individual components are assembled and finished by hand here in West Michigan.
Technology gives us an extraordinary tool.
Craftsmanship is what allows us to turn that tool into something we're proud to send to someone else's home.
But there's another distinction that's important to us:
The lithophane is the technique. The afterglohe is the finished experience.
We use that technique as the canvas for something larger—combining photographs, form, illumination and handcrafted bases into a piece designed not simply to reproduce a photograph, but to give people another way to experience it.
Handcrafting a hardwood base for the Halo product. Afterglohe uses premium quality materials that are worthy to be placed in any home as a keepsake to be enjoyed for generations.
So why not just frame the photograph?
It's a fair question.
And we should probably begin by saying that we love photographs and Maria and I have many that are dear to us hanging on our home's walls!
A beautiful framed photograph can capture a moment wonderfully. It can remind us of a person, a place or a time in our lives that mattered.
We're not trying to replace that.
We've simply discovered that an illuminated photograph can create a very different kind of experience.
We've seen it ourselves when people encounter an afterglohe for the first time, and we've heard similar stories from customers.
Someone notices a beautiful collection of glowing photographs.
Unsure of what it is, they move closer.
Then they discover another image—or walk around a 360° canvas and find several more.
There is often that initial “Wow, what is this?”
But the more interesting part is what sometimes happens next.
“Where was this taken?”
“Is that your daughter?”
“Who is that?”
“Was that your dog?”
And suddenly, the conversation isn't about the afterglohe anymore.
It's about the wedding.
The family vacation.
The grandparents.
The dog who went everywhere with you.
The ridiculous afternoon everyone still laughs about.
The people and moments behind the photographs.
That's something Maria and I didn't completely anticipate when we began creating these. The unusual way the photographs are presented naturally creates curiosity. And that curiosity often becomes an invitation to share the story.
Perhaps that's the difference we've come to appreciate most.
The uniqueness gets someone's attention. The story is what keeps them there.
Designed to be discovered
That idea of discovery also influences the forms we create.
Some afterglohe canvases tell their story in a line, allowing several photographs to sit together as a sequence of moments. Others wrap photographs around a 360-degree canvas, inviting you to move around the piece and discover each image in turn.
The various forms an afterglohe can take shape allows a choice of how someone would like to revise their most special memories on a daily basis. Pictured are StoryLine-Mini, StoryLine, and Halo on Hardwood Bases, and a Halo Grande on a Cast Concrete Base. Each illuminated with the customer's choice of scented candles or Warm LED.
There's no prescribed order in which someone has to experience them.
You might notice a familiar face first. Someone else might be drawn to a landscape on the opposite side. Another person may notice a photograph you almost didn't include and ask about the memory behind it.
In that way, an afterglohe isn't simply displaying several photographs.
It's giving those photographs another opportunity to be noticed.
And sometimes, to be talked about again.
More than a photograph. A story brought to light.
We find the technology behind lithophanes fascinating. We love that an art form born in the age of porcelain can be reimagined using digital photography and modern 3D printing.
We care deeply about the equipment, calibration, materials and craftsmanship that make the finished piece possible.
But ultimately, none of those things are the reason someone creates an afterglohe.
It's the photographs . . .
More precisely, it's what those photographs represent—a personal story.
A beginning.
An adventure.
A family.
A friendship.
Someone we love.
Someone we miss.
A moment we'd happily live all over again.
Technology can transform those photographs into light and shadow. Craftsmanship can turn them into something beautiful enough to become part of your home.
But the memories are what give an afterglohe its meaning.
And perhaps that's what we love most about creating them: every one begins with photographs, but every one ultimately tells a story.
Have a story you'd like to bring to light?
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