One of our favorite parts of cruising the Internet is the fact that we get to see such a wide range of cute, unexpected, heartwarming, and even weird photos! And while we have to say that we are particularly partial to adorable cat and dog photos, our close seconds are ones that feature optical illusions.
Here are 15 of our all-time favorite mind-bending photos. We’ve got to admit, we are still trying to figure some of these out!
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Phantom in a Wedding Photo
Facebook via Christina Quada Dennis
This oldie-but-goodie still sends plenty of shivers down the spines of unsuspecting viewers. Although the true nature of the photo has been debated ad nauseam on various Internet boards, the non-ghostbusting crowd agrees that it must be a visual variation created by a light source hitting the sidewalk in the background.
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Lunar Clock
Laurent Laveder via Bored Panda
Nope, the moon hasn’t magically sprouted the arms of a clock; it’s just a model who is standing in the foreground, holding two narrow objects to the sky. This particular photo is part of a series that features the beautiful full moon by Laurent Laveder. How dreamy!
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Swimming Pool Room
Leandro Erlich
We don’t know about you, but every time we look at this photo, we instinctively start to panic. It really appears as if those folks are stuck under a glass-top pool! Lucky for them, this is actually a hyper-real and all-too-clever art installation by Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich. The gallery goers exited the unlikely museum dry and alive.
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The “Caterpillar”
José Luis Rodriguez via Bored Panda
When it comes to optical illusions, it doesn’t get much better than this. At first glance, you will either see a delightfully colorful caterpillar – that’s what we saw! – or a bevy of birds nestled up to one another. Which do you see?
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Gravity-Defying Trees
mulfordarts via Instagram
This is the perfect example of how, when it comes to taking the most impactful shot, angle truly is everything! Can’t figure this one out? We’ll give you a hint: Only one tree is off-kilter.
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Dizzying Reflections
tryamtory via Instagram
We’re not going to lie; it took multiple eyes and a lot of second-guessing until we were able to agree on how the photographer got this shot. Similar to how the last photo was expertly-angled, this one of a chair sitting on a reflective surface shows how the right light can duplicate objects. Protip: Turn your device upside-down to get the best view!
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Watery Eye
annalisa_hilo via Instagram
Yet another example of how the subject of the shot could easily be mistaken for something else! While at first glance most see an illustrated eye, in reality it’s just water going down a drain. Neat, huh?
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“Toy” Cars
vindhuja_vikraman via Instagram
This expertly-shot photo shows a man appearing to play with toy cars in a sandbox, but the subject is actually just hanging out of the window of a high-rise, reaching down with a perfectly-placed hand. Talk about good timing!
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Counting Bridesmaids
echotango7 via reddit
Quick—how many bridesmaids do you see in this picture? We originally counted 7, but upon further inspection, we actually see 9! Anyone else have a better guess?
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Levitating Pool Table
fury via reddit
No, this is not a pool table from the future; it is actually a photo of your standard billiards room. The eye-trickery here has to do with the fact that both walls, as well as the floor, are made from the same color of wood. Couple that with a sharp 45-degree angle, and you get a truly confusing image. Voila!
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Magic Podium Ride
TheRichest
This ain’t a beach-side orating Criss Angel, it’s actually just an unsuspecting gal caught in the midst of a perfectly-timed photo. Though it may seem like she is hovering above the sand on a magic carpet, it is just the flagpole’s shadow that is creating the illusion.
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Human Parrot
Talltanic
Before we were enlightened on the true nature of this photo, we were ready to put money on the subject of the photo being a parrot. Nevertheless, with all things having to do with optical illusions, our instincts were, once again, wrong! Believe it or not, this is actually an image of a contortionist painted in bright colors. Do you see it now?
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Tiny House?
Jann3k via reddit
This particular photo has everything to do with perspective. In reality, it’s a tiny house that is sitting in the bed of a pickup truck, but it could easily be mistaken for a house in the foreground. Now you know!
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The Dismembered Hand
WGN 9 News
Look carefully at the woman seated in the third row on the right-side of the image. Notice anything odd? No, that isn’t a character from The Adams Family chilling on her shoulder; the truth is even stranger. You see, it was tough to take a group photo during this era, as at least one subject would end up moving, thus messing up the shot.
Although unverified, it’s likely that one of the member’s likenesses turned out blurry, so the photographer completed a bit of old-timey Photoshop to remove the person. Only problem is, they forgot to take out her hand!
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The “Negligent” Dad
kynlais via reddit
While this may look like a dad dangling his baby high over a ledge, the scenario is actually much tamer than that. If you look closely, you’ll see that he is just giving the kiddo a better view of a MINIATURE train set. Phew!
See, some of these photos truly are headscratchers! Which one on this list is your favorite? Do you have any camera angle tips that you use when you take your own optical illusion photos? Are there any others that you would like to share?
