By Vurdlak on April 16, 2009, with 115 Comments
Frankly, I have no idea who the duck Richard Stoltzman is, nor I want to google him like many of you would angrily suggest (probably just in spite my defiance is talking), but the fact is that this image below contains one awesome optical illusion. I would like to thank the person who sent me this, but am not able to decipher his “reply to” email address. In my mailbox, I see the sender as: “@mailinator.com Marct <m8r-gvr6mg>“. How can this even be a valid email address? Is it some sort of error gmail produced, or does it have something to do with secret government headquarters or PGP encryption? Would love to hear your thoughts. As there was nothing more than a picture attached inside the message, I’m not able to provide any more info. If you have problems spotting the illusion, look for a seagull – he should help your eye. If you still can’t find it, check the second hint.
(21 votes)
Got it, but only after checking the second hint. Then the answer just jumped out. :)
Cool! Is it real?
i see a face, btw the google moi gadet is sweet. and i could get first comment
I see two different things:
* a face–the gull is the eye of the face.
* the upper part of a body–the left hill is a shoulder, the part above the face is the neck and on the right the skill (with some hair!) on a “pillow”.
Maybe there are more 5-6
Wow, 4 seconds of google work and you would know a lot more. Richard Stoltzman is a clarinetist, and this is the cover art for an album entitled “Visions”.
Benjamin Franklin, I think. Great illusion i love how the artist uses the rock exposed to the sunlight ans the persons hair.
NOOOOO WAAAAAAAAY
If you turn your head to the right, it looks like a duck :) how cool :)
…perfectly placed bird for the eye as well…nicey done!
Looks like an elephant and under its raised trunk is an Indian Head, humm…. Lovin it.
It looks so photoshopped
where is that?
This is fake, no? it’s possible, but is too good to be natural.
Very clever :) Sorry i can’t help with the email but good luck figuring it out :)
HAHA ! Sloppy 2nd ! : P
Love the illusion !!!!
Hey…good luck with the senders address info!
and to the sender …don’t be so suspect !
Can anyone verify this to be Durdle Door in Dorset?
Well i think ITS FREAKEN COOL and wierd at the same time lol
P.S am i 2nd?!?
Well, I googled him. It seems like he is a clarinetist and ‘Visions’ is his album. So, I don’t know who the artist is who created the illusion.
Photo Shopped.
benjamin franklin.
Reminds me of Ben Franklin!
i see 3 faces
I think the eye is a bird! (btw it’s a girl’s face!
It’s an Indian head. Cool.
I see a face and that bird is the face eye, cool.
The first I thing i noticed was the face, before reading your article…I loved you “your eye” clue and i have no idea how that e-mail would pop-up but you could always try replying…
Oh. It’s a face, and the seagull is the eye.
It’s a whale1
Before I seen the opening I thought I knew where the illusion was. Then I seen the opening. I thought at first the right top side was the illusion. The face of a woman with her hair spilling down over the rocks.
The illusion leapt out at me because I know this place well. It’s Durdle Door, in Dorset, Southern England. If anyone would like to see the real thing, check here:
http://onegeekspeaks.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/durdle-door.jpg
cool
*****SPOILER******
It’s the face inside the negative space in the hole in the rockes
i see a faaaace :D. for those who can’t see it, it’s the gap on the bottom of the rocks :3
2nd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i rock!
obvious. saw it the second my eye fell on the picture ;) Nice though…
**********SPOILER******************
sick! its face on the out side of the tunnel!
Omg thats so amazing! The bird make the eye!
IT LOOKS LIKE AN INDIAN HEAD!! A NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN THAT IS. LOL
AWESOME!! it beautiful i looooove it!
Nice one! I was trying to focus on the shape of the rock formation too much before I noticed the face in the gap. On a semi-related note, I believe that the person sent you the image through a disposable e-mail service, the name “Mailinator” says it all.
a side head. in the hole.
the iluminated rocks appears the hair.
Or there’s another profile with its mouth open!!!
It looks like Benjamin Franklin! To me, anyway.
Mailinator is a wonderful service that allows you to invent a fake email address that only works once and then disappears. Great for when you have to provide an address to sign up for something but you want to keep your privacy.
It looks like Ben Franklin!!! The lighter side of the cliff (right next to the face) is his hair!!! Does anyone else see it???
Actually that looks like ben franklin!
This is Durdle Door in Devon, England…nice place :)
i had to see the second hint before i saw it…
Is this in Santa Cruz?
Wow! This is wonderfuly amazing! It is very cool!
Enchanting. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
Yeah, it looks like a face to me too. ha :P
look at that beatuiful bird for the eye XD
yeah second for the first time XD
obviusly is a face between the rocks
:D COOL! IndiAN WITH BIRDY!
I saw the face before I saw the arch!
(2nd!)
es genial felicidades
It looks a little like . . . Ben Franklin?
Maybe also a face on top looking down? Anyone else see it?
This is really cool! I’m sorry, I have to do this It’s my first time ever: Second!!!! Anyway, thans for posting.
Looks like George Washington!
Yes it’s a face right in the center, the seagull looks like an eye
This is amazing. I have the album but on cassette so the image is too small to have the illusion effect, so I have never noticed it. Richard is a clarinet player, who creates atmospheric music of real beauty.
This clearly an illusion that exists only for the wink of an eye.
Cool! Looks like its been ‘photoshop edited’, lol! But how was the black line for the eye was formed? Is it a bird or something?
I see it :) Very cool!
I saw face and “mudflap” woman out of the rocks
to have that bird there….at that exact spot…at the exact time. wow!
minimum two faces, another on the top
yup, thats a left side view of a human face.
looks like benjamin franklin =)
Profile of an indian.
Ron49Ky
And I Know who this is… the face looks familiair to me ;-)
at first i thought the left side of the rock was a man kissing the other side of the rock o.o;
but thats when i looked at my widget.
when i came here i realised it wasn’t
Email addresses are
"anything" <a@b.com>
So in this case, probably
"@mailinator.com Marct <m8r-gvr6mg>" <m8r-xxxxxx@mailinator.com>
Usually only the part in quotes (typically the senders name) is displayed. The headers will show the real address.
Well… Email adresses are over rated anyway. You can fake everything. The address in the header and the displayed address (you can by the way also fake the to address). So I guess this was someone who liked to stay anonymous…
No way I’m going to send you any emails, if you put an email address that puzzles you so in the open on the internet.
Bad manners!
wow i now see the head but if you look at the whole rock, it looks like a women or a mud flap lady! idk how you couldnt see it! maybe its because im a guy lol
at first glance i thought someone had painted a picture of a white head against a random black shape. it was only when i saw the ocean when i realised it was a place, although it does look like a painting – so probably not photoshopped, just painted like that.
I see a vase.