A holographic recording system (1) includes a transparent or semi-transparent holographic recording medium (6), a source of coherent optical radiation (7), and an optical system (10). The recording medium has a first side (25) presented toward the radiation source, a second side (26) opposite to the first side and presented toward the optical system, and a recording volume (30) between the two sides. The radiation source is arranged to project incident optical radiation (20) onto the first side and through the recording volume towards the optical system, which is arranged to redirect (32) the optical radiation back onto the second side and into the recording volume so that the incident and redirected radiation intersect within the recording volume at an obtuse angle (34) to create an interference pattern (38) from which a holographic recording may be made.