A volume holographic imaging system enables the projection of a two-dimensional (2D) slice of a four-dimensional (4D) object. The 4D source object is illuminated to emit or scatter an optical field. A holographic element having one or more recorded holograms receives and diffracts the optical field into a diffracted plane beam. A phase mask is encoded in one or more multiplexed holographic gratings of the holographic element using a spatial filter. A collector lens focuses the diffracted plane beam to a 2D slice of the 4D probing source object. The focused 2D slice is projected onto a 2D imaging plane. The holographic element may have multiple multiplexed holograms that are arranged to diffract light from a corresponding slice of the 4D probing source object to a non-overlapping region of the detector.