Artist sues for co-author credit on Chris Levine’s Portraits of the Queen | Photography

An artist who claims to have been involved in the creation of two of the most famous photographs of the late Queen has sued Chris Levin, a photographer who claims to be the sole author of the images, in a High Court dispute.

Rob Munday claims to have co-authored two 2004 portraits of the Queen created using holographic technology, which involves using light projection and multiple cameras to render a three-dimensional image.

In a lawsuit seen by The Guardian, Munday alleges that Levine and his company Sphere 9 violated his moral rights to the works titled Equanimity and Lightness of Being, both of which are in the permanent collection at the National Portrait Gallery.

Levin, who shares copyright to the works, has not yet offered a defense to Munday’s claims. This is the first time Munday has taken legal action.

The photographs were taken in two sessions in late 2003 and early 2004, and are arguably the most iconic images of the King. They have been exhibited in some of the most prestigious art galleries in the UK.

Munday said he was trying to be legally recognized as a joint artist with Levine, who he claims came to him because Levine could not have created the 3D image without his expertise.

“I’ve been through this course for 20 years,” said Munday, who trained in holography after graduating from college in the early 1980s. “I wasn’t young anymore; I felt like it was now or never to go through this.”

The photographs were commissioned by the Jersey Heritage Trust to mark the 800th anniversary of the UK’s independence and pledge of allegiance to the English Crown.

Munday claims that he and Levin, in cooperation with the Fund, reached a settlement in 2005 over the authorship of the images, but that Levin has since violated that.

The foundation sued Levine in July 2024 for alleged breach of contract and copyright, alleging that the artist owed it money from sales of unlicensed copies of the paintings, potentially worth millions.

The parties reached an out-of-court settlement in September this year, and said in a joint statement: “The parties acknowledge that Chris Levin was the only artist commissioned by the Jersey Heritage Trust to create the image, and the parties remain extremely proud of the creative collaboration between artist Chris Levin, stereographer Robert Munday of UK Spatial Imaging, Geoffrey Robb also of UK Spatial Imaging and Dr John Berry (USA) who It resulted in a groundbreaking and iconic portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II entitled Poise.

Munday said he decided to take legal action after Levin posted a statement on Instagram following the settlement with the fund. “Truth prevailed,” Levine wrote in a now-deleted post. “I was the only artist commissioned for it, and now it is legally recognized that I am the sole author of this work.”

While the joint statement mentioned Munday, it described him as a collaborator rather than a participant in creating the image. He is seeking to be named as co-author of the works and for Levin to publicly declare that they created the images together.

“Mr. Munday does not own any copyright in Equanimity or Lightness of Being. The Jersey Heritage Trust, which commissioned the work, has publicly confirmed that I was the only artist commissioned for it,” Levine said.

He referred to Munday as an “artistic subcontractor” hired to help with production “as part of my team, not as an art partner.”

He added: “Exceptionally, no details have been provided to me or the lawyers yet, and while I will not comment further on the ongoing legal proceedings, I am confident that the facts, witnessed by all involved, will once again speak for themselves. This is an ongoing attempt to rewrite history and the motives are clear. Any claim to my rights will be vigorously defended. This is my art.”

Levine, who studied graphic design at Chelsea School of Art and computer graphics at Central Saint Martins School of Art, told The Guardian in 2009 that he did not consider himself a photographer. “I am an artist who works with light and uses photography in his projects,” he said.

Levine’s forthcoming monograph Inner Light: A Portrait of Chris Levine uses Lightness of Being on the cover and in a 2009 Guardian interview he chose the image as his best shot.

It is included in Sotheby’s Power & Image: Royal Portraiture & Iconography show in 2022 along with seven portraits of different queens.