Abstract: An improvement in a light modulating chiral nematic liquid crystal adapted to form focal conic and twisted planar textures and a liquid crystal device employing such a material, the improvement wherein the liquid crystal material includes a plurality of essentially distinct regions within which the liquid crystal has different pitch lengths, whereby the liquid crystal can be made to reflect different wavelengths of light in different regions. The regions are created by including in the chiral nematic liquid crystal composition, a chiral material adapted to change its chirality upon photo-irradiation, in an amount effective to change the pitch length of the liquid crystal composition upon photo-irradiation. By exposing different regions of the material to increasing amounts of photo-irradiation, the pitch length of each region can be selectively tuned to reflect light of a different wavelength.