Random Photo Friday: It makes your eyes go wibbly-wobbly

I actually wanted to call today's random photo post Trompe L'Oeil because

a) it sounds more interesting, and

b) I believed it to be French for optical illusion as in 'fooling the eye'.

Turns out, however, that trompe l'oeil and optical illusion are not quite the same thing. (Eh bien, on apprend tous les jours.) The former is described by Wikipedia as: "an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that depicted objects exist in three dimensions." Many examples of which we saw in the interior false-dome/fresco ceilings of the gazillion palaces and churches/cathedrals we visited during our recent trip to Germany (darn, I still have to post my photos from that).

  

Optical illusions, on the other hand, can use color, light and patterns to create images that can be deceptive or misleading to our brains. Information gathered by the eye is processed by the brain, creating a perception that, in reality, does not match the true image. Optical illusions occur because our brain is trying to interpret what we see and make sense of the world around us - tricking our brains into seeing things which may or may not be real.

Anyhow, I thought I'd share a couple of photos which, as the photographer, I know to be one thing however, when I take a closer look, they make my eyes go all wibbly-wobbly and even I start to interpret the image in other ways.

Let's start with this one, a rather Orwellian institutional-looking building near the waterfront in San Francisco.

Does the wall of windows on the right
seem to move for you too?

How about now?

For this next photograph I was originally attracted to the patterns and tones crafted by the slow deterioration of the paint and the rotting wood beneath it. But when I looked at it later, I noticed the grubby (once-white) stucco between the two wooden panels creates an interesting optical illusion - looking like a spray-painted rusty pipe or a narrow tree trunk, that could appear to be in front of, or behind, the panels.  (And I didn't even change anything in the saturation or contrast on this image.)

As it happens, it's lucky I captured the above image when I did since the whole building (a roller-skating store at the corner of West 11th and Main St. in Vancouver) was recently painted a very LOUD and garishly putrid pink, as seen on their website. 

The image below is another from San Francisco - at Pier 39 no less. On the one hand I know I was looking down onto this merchant's parasol, but every couple of seconds, I feel like I'm actually under the parasol, looking up. If it wasn't for the small white topper poking up, I'd have a hard time determining which way it should be.

This next one, taken in Trinidad, Cuba, is a gentler optical illusion, but I like this photpgraph so I decided to include it anyway. Question is, do you see a 2-tone post/chimney in front of a 2-tone wall, or is the wall  in fact sitting just to the right of the post?

Trinidad, Cuba

Feeling all wibbly-wobbly yet?

When I finally get around to sharing some of the photos from Germany, I'll be sure to include the incredible trompe l'oeil artwork that decorated the ceilings of just about every palace, castle and cathedral we visited.