Vision is a sense we rely on constantly, but that doesn’t mean our eyes can’t fool us from time to time.
Whether it’s a weird angle or lighting trick, or something explicitly designed to mess with your perception, it’s clear that not everything is what it might seem to be.
Little bushes.
It looks like some small shrubs in a white-flecked gravel flowerbed, but it’s actually an overhead shot showing thousands of people at a protest in Boston.
Interstellar?
It’s incredible how a simple camera shift can create illusions like this. This is just a humble library, but from this angle it looks like some kind of infinite portal.
Invisible man?
It’s just a guy wearing dark clothes and a very dark hoodie. Or, at least, that’s what the caption for this photo claims. I’m not entirely convinced this guy even has a head.
Sink eye.
Considering the fact that this is clearly a sink when you give it a second look, it’s downright uncanny how much it looks like a human eye in the abstract.
Head to the fallout shelter.
This is a long exposure shot of a lightning storm, showing how the bolts light up one area of the sky. It also has the effect of looking a bit apocalyptic.
Goatbird.
You’re looking at a kookaburra, which is more than just a bird with a funny name. It’s also a bird whose head, when you look at it just right, looks a lot like a baby goat.
Right back atcha.
This is just a house, an inanimate structure in a neighborhood full of similarly inanimate structures. So why do I get the feeling that it’s flipping me the bird?
Bubble eyes.
This perfectly-timed shot of a happy doggo makes said doggo look like an eccentric professor who’s wearing goggles to conduct some weird new experiment.
They’re just receipts.
It looks like a map of Mordor, or maybe Skyrim, but it’s actually just a standard receipt. Water has made the ink run in random patterns.
Needs better bear-proofing.
I love this bear-themed bedsheet combo. I also love how the main bear shape on the comforter has taken on a 3D look, thanks to the dog (at least I hope it’s a dog and not a bear).
Quite dapper.
Sidewalks are always covered with random blotches of tar, and this one’s no exception. But the way the tar has accumulated on this sidewalk looks uncannily like a man wearing a bowtie.
What’s wrong with your face?
The deer on the left has a perfectly nice face, I’m sure. But this position, directly behind a tree that has a weird face on it, makes things quite strange indeed.
Fly me to the moon.
We all know that standard airplanes can’t leave the atmosphere. But judging by this pic, at least one plane is trying to make a beeline directly for the moon.
3D in 2D.
From above, this flat rubber keyboard looks like a very three-dimensional keyboard — the type of massive keyboard that you could find everyone in the 90s. But from the side, it is, in fact, very flat.
Somebody help that cat.
This cat’s coloration is pretty standard, but when it’s walking across a sandy area, things change. I would swear this cat has a massive hole in its side.
Bakery fresh.
If you’re ever in the mood for fresh-baked bread, but you also want the visual aesthetics of a ripe watermelon, this bakery in Taiwan seems like it would have you covered.
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Turn that frown upside-down.
This is hilarious in the light of day, but I think it might just be terrifying if you stumbled across it late at night with dim lighting.
Room with a view.
Something about the lighting in this pic makes it look like there’s a painting on the wall. But it isn’t a painting at all; it’s just a regular window.
Look closer.
This is what it appears to be: a bunch of camels crossing the desert. But when you look closer, it’s apparent that the black camel shapes are their shadows. The actual camels are barely identifiable.
Dry leaf.
This leaf once had water droplets on it, but after the rain cleared and the sun came back out, the rays actually burnt the outlines of the water droplets onto the leaf.
