Exploiting MoS2 and graphene in complex 3D system architectures allows their unique electronic, mechanical, and optical properties to be leveraged in a photodetection and imaging device that can sense both the direction and intensity of illumination, in real time. Similar capabilities cannot be achieved easily, with solid state, integrated operation, by using conventional designs or materials. Key enabling properties of 2D materials in this context include high threshold strains, to avoid fracture even in extreme cases of 2D to 3D transformation, ultrathin geometries, to minimize bending-induced strains that follow from this transformation and optical transparency, to allow simultaneous illumination on the front and backsides of the system. The example presented here might foreshadow other opportunities to engineer unique system-level function by deploying 2D materials in 3D designs.