A method to verify the authenticity of an object, the method comprising: generating a first image stack from a first plurality of images of an authentication object by aligning the first plurality of images to an image reference framework so that a particular spatial location in one of the images of the first image stack corresponds to a comparable spatial location in all the other images of the first image stack, the first plurality of images acquired with different optical geometries, wherein each optical geometry is defined by a geometric relationship between the authentication object, an image sensor, and an illumination source; computing a first set of basis functions from a first region of the images of the first image stack, the first set of basis functions including sets of pixel locations and corresponding intensities, Eigenvectors, and/or other functions that describe latent structural characteristics of the first region in a basis; extracting at least one first magnitude from the first set of basis functions; computing a mathematical correspondence between the at least one first magnitude and at least one second magnitude, the at least one second magnitude extracted from a second set of basis functions computed to describe latent structural characteristics of a second region of a second image stack generated from a previously acquired second plurality of images of an enrollment object, by correlating the at least one first magnitude against a linear or non-linear combination of second magnitudes, or correlating the at least one second magnitude against a linear or non-linear combination of first magnitudes to obtain at least one correlation coefficient; and determining whether the authentication object is the enrollment object as a function of the at least one correlation coefficient. generating a first image stack from a first plurality of images of an authentication object by aligning the first plurality of images to an image reference framework so that a particular spatial location in one of the images of the first image stack corresponds to a comparable spatial location in all the other images of the first image stack, the first plurality of images acquired with different optical geometries, wherein each optical geometry is defined by a geometric relationship between the authentication object, an image sensor, and an illumination source; computing a first set of basis functions from a first region of the images of the first image stack, the first set of basis functions including sets of pixel locations and corresponding intensities, Eigenvectors, and/or other functions that describe latent structural characteristics of the first region in a basis; extracting at least one first magnitude from the first set of basis functions; computing a mathematical correspondence between the at least one first magnitude and at least one second magnitude, the at least one second magnitude extracted from a second set of basis functions computed to describe latent structural characteristics of a second region of a second image stack generated from a previously acquired second plurality of images of an enrollment object, by correlating the at least one first magnitude against a linear or non-linear combination of second magnitudes, or correlating the at least one second magnitude against a linear or non-linear combination of first magnitudes to obtain at least one correlation coefficient; and determining whether the authentication object is the enrollment object as a function of the at least one correlation coefficient. <EOS>