The present invention comprises construction of a display from display elements that are actuated using the physical principle of electrowetting. In one embodiment, pores within porous silicon are filled with an ionic and an optically reflective electronic conductor, and actuated by application of an electric potential across the pore. An image is then formed on an array of such pores by applying an appropriate voltage to each pore of the array to create an optical image in the light reflected off the electronic conductors. Such a display may be constructed to have very high resolution, making it desirable for creating real-time holographic images, or for creating high-resolution mask images for use in photolithography.