Holographic polymerization (HP) is a simple, fast, and attractive technique to fabricate one-, two- and three-dimensional complex and functional nanostructures. Not only does the coupling of photopolymerization and light-directed phase separation HP process render rich polymer physics to the latter, it also leads to profound morphology-sensitive properties of HP structures, ranging from nano- to mesoscales. The past two decades witnessed tremendous progress in the field and in this review, we will probe the fundamental characteristics and parameters of HP, exemplify the versatility of this nanofabrication technique by presenting a diverse selection of HP patterned soft materials, and discuss some unique applications of such HP structures. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.