By Vurdlak on September 30, 2011, with 200 Comments
Couple of days ago, Luca has pointed me to the photo of Spanish minister Carme Chacón published on El Pais website. At first I couldn’t see anything strange in it, yet after I’ve read the title of Luca’s email (same as above) – it triggered my attention. Finally, after few moments I’ve noticed that minister’s feet were actually inverted one to another!
It seems as if her left leg ends with the right leg’s foot. Same goes for her right leg. At first I considered this yet another shameful Photoshop disaster, which I immediately forwarded to fellow webmaster who collects these. Yet, the twist came after I was explained there is actually nothing wrong with the photo itself! I couldn’t believe the photo was actually a “mere” optical illusion.
What has happened, is that Carme covered her left thigh in a way where it appears it’s pointing left, instead of it actually pointing up. This photo has been featured in several world sites as a wrong retouch, but after all the false spotlight it received, the agency who took the shoot explained how the legs were actually not crossed at all! I’m not sure I managed to explain what is happening here, but be sure to check the solution I created with help of the Photoshop (below) – it’s still hard to imagine, yet it should explain the illusion.
(247 votes)
nope, still don’t c it !, this is the 1st illusion that “actually” stumped me.
Rick, her legs are not crossed.
nice! Also about the cinemographs, I think they are very cool. I would love to see more of them.
@Zrowny: try going to http://www.google.com and type cinemographs in the box you see and then hit enter. You’ll find lots of pages with more cinemographs. You could also press the ‘pictures’ option you see on the left to jump directly to cinemograph pictures. Or you could wait for Mighty Optical Illusions to post more cinemographs.
It took me awhile to see the illusion… I understand, but it didn’t ever look like her legs were crossed, just her ankles….
I didn’t get it at first then it hit me. Very awesome!
Hi! I’m from Catalonia, where this woman is, and I have to say that it shocked me :O
But I also have to say that this woman is making a good progress in militar matters!
Allo ! daily viewer here, and long live the MOIllusion site !! keep the good work ! ..now regarding this illusion , I have to say its a good one , glad you posted it , being not created to be an illusion, but rather a “natural” one out of reality, I got puzzled !!
Cheers to you !!
marty_mtl
Perfect, i just love that kind of illusions, which takes some brains to understand :)
photoshop, but not photoshop fail.
Wow, this is really disorienting. This is the stuff I love – seemingly “normal” images that create an optical illusion.
I see it in the 2nd picture with the white skirt. @Rick, look at her left knee (leg in front) in the picture with the white skirt, it looks like her left leg is coming out of her right leg, and not resting on top.
what? I don’t get it at all. :(
never mind. Just got it lol
Now that definately qualifies as weird.
I bet she stubs her toes a lot.
I love this, it’s a proper Optical illusion
More please
The shadows of her hands helped a lot with the illusion of crossed legs.
Does anybody see what looks like a face in the window
Very good illusion! I’m stunned.
But I don’t like cinemographs.
Nothing more enjoyable than having to stare at a lovely pair of legs…
The vertical shadow that is a combination of the cease in her bent knee and her left wrist really intensifies the illusion!
While it’s pretty easy to see the legs both ways, it’s a lot more fun looking at them reversed :P
Cool, but look into the window (if ther was a window :s) And it looks like a head there, with mouth and eyes xP
nice gams…
I could only see it after I looked at your ‘solution’. Great job!
Very cool. I had to re-read this many times and look at the pictures multiple times to fully understand but basically, in the real photo we think we’re looking at the side of her left leg crossed under her right leg when it’s actually the underside of her left leg which just goes up and back down. She’s blocking the rest of her leg with her arm on her knee.
That`s so cool!! At 1st I didn`t get it then I saw it! o_0
At first, I thought the illusion was the face of a man up on the glass, located behind the woman…..is that a real guy or just an illusion or something else?!?
Wow!! It is an optical illusion!! My GOD I was fooled at first too!1 Nice catch Vurdlak!!
It’s just an illusion, and coincidence I think. After taking a second glance you can see her legs are not crossed just simply raised and crossed at the ankles. It tricked me at first I admit!
Wasn’t until I looked at your photoshoped version that I got it. To those who fail to see it still.
The sleeve of her top (Left hand) covers a part of her thigh, making it look as if the thigh we can see is part of her left leg, when in fact it is her right leg.
The leg in the foreground is attached to the thigh and at no stage crosses over the other legs thigh/knee (only at the ankles do the legs cross)
Very, very! Clever.
Is is just me or are her feet HUGE?
dude, theres a really creepy looking guy in the background at the top, above the different languages next to her head.
does anyone see the face in the door in the back?
am i the only one who sees the person at the very top in the middle?
if you dont get it try and do her position at on the first photo… it is actually quite difficult until you go to the pics afterwards
There’s also a scary face in the window of the first picture. :D
That is awesome. Such a simple little thing creates a forever mind boggling illusion. I must show this to all my friends.
Yea it took a few goes to see the illusion but it’s definitely real. When you look hard at the photoshopped example where her left arm is missing, you can see where her leg does actually point up giving the impression her legs are crossed in a weird way.
Ha ha,cool. Love it. And the cinemographs are cool. It would be very nice to see more.
anyone notice the creepy looking guy at the top of the photo
I thought it had something to do with the couch having an empty spot xD
Nice find! I wouldn’t have noticed anything strange about this photo if it wasn’t pointed out to me.
Nice one.
Now I do like this one. Sort of double bluff of an illusion.
Also, just to redress the ballance a little, I also like the cinemographs. I wouldn’t necessarily call them illusions, but they do give a striking effect. I’d rather see a few of them every now and then, rather than 100 flavours of Penrose’s stairs.
I also like the cinemographs.
agree ♥
to me it just looks like a shadow on her leg from her sleeve and makes it look like she has a false leg its quite briliant really
You did a FANTASTIC job explaining the illusion Vurdlak; you always do! Nice work and I did think her legs were crossed the whole time!!
I meant to say that “I THOUGHT her legs were crossed the whole time”… Not “I think”….
Keep up the nice work!!
“legs were actually not crossed at all!” Okay now I see it. Oh, BTW, who is the man looking in the window?
This one took a while to understand. I kept concentrating on her FEET because of the explanation.
It’s just that it appears that her left knee goes UNDER her right knee and that her legs are crossed – when they aren’t. This is good. It forced me to be perceptive.
The second picture seems to also be an optical illusion, her hip on the right side seems to be non-existant.
Is no one seeing the face in the glass in the background? :O
Yeah, it would have been weird too.. if the other leg was over it wouldn’t touch the ground.
fail.. lols
If you don’t get it, think about how her legs would have to be positioned if she has crossed them only at the ankles. The photo makes it It look like she has crossed her legs above the knees (combination of angle and position of her left hand covering the knee) which is what leads you to think her feet are on backwards.
looks like her legs are crossed twice, once above the knee and once at the ankles.
If think about where her right thigh would have to be, it would actually be weirder if her legs were in fact crossed. But of course that’s the point of illusions. Our intuition is giving us the “wrong” answer.
Now I get it! It took quite long to understand what you menat. For me it was obvious the way her legs were positioned. Maybe there’s other people for whom the crossed legs is the obvious one.
wooow, it took the time while I noticed what is the problem about! crazy!!
I saw this one right away. But I clean photos for a living. X3
One of the best; astounding in its effectiveness and simplicity.
???
Wait…
I GET IT!!
COME TO MY HOUSE TODAY
Optical Ilussion?? It seems that you’re running out of material…
What!? This is what’s known as a “reach”! The only thing wrong in this picture is how badly malnourished Carme Chacón looks.
OH I get it I think those aren’t her legs, Cause if you look in the first picture Look at the knees and the legs where they start read the description a little harder :D
I think what you seeing is because she is able to cross her legs at the knees, and also at the ankles. If you look at it from
that perspective view, you will be able to tell that its not incorrectly photoshopped nor is it an illusion. You have to have some pretty long legs to do this. None of which I have.
this is cracking me up, if she actually were crossing her legs above the knees and at ankles then that would mean that she was born with her left foot and right foot on wrong side… are people just ignoring here toes being in wrong place?
This optical illusion is on-par with the animated GIF files. Do I need to stand on my head and cross my eyes to see it?
Absolutly amazing !
even now, i still believe that she crossed her legs above the knees (and under which is obvious) but in fact she realy crossed her legs only once (under knees).
The shades from her hands are guilty !
That was obvious to me that her legs were only crossed once… I had a hard time trying to see what was supposed to seem like it was Photoshopped… And it still doesn’t make sense that people would see it like that, Guess i just have a weird mind or something
It just goes to show and prove you should believe little of what you see, hear and read on the Net!
i understand how the legs look different but how come the feet still look weird???
@rick in the 1st one the feet look at the feet!!!!
I believe the black clothing that hides any contour contributes to the strenght of the effect of this “illusion”. I appreciate the solution pictures. a very stronge effect. Even knowing the solution I still see the leges as reversed ( especially when I look at the feet)
I didn’t see how her legs couldn’t be crossed until I saw the photoshopped pic with her hand “removed”. Good one.
Wow it took me a few minutes but I finally figured it out! Weird!
Wow… mind-boggling.
i was looking at the guys face in the window
OMG U GUYS SEE THE GUY IN THE BACK>! sCARy
Is that a painting of a face in the background or someone standing outside of a window, or could it be something Supernatural???? I don’t really believe in stuff like that but to me, it does Not look like a painting or someone looking through a window!!! It really freaked me out when I first noticed it!!!! To be honest, it still kind of freaks me out! LMAO!!!! I saved the pic on my PC, and then I opened it and zoomed in on the face and it looked even more freaky up close! I don’t have a clue what it is!!!!!!!
FREAKY
IT CAN ALL BE JUST A TRICK OF THE LIGHTS AND ANGLE BUT IF SO, THAN THE TRUE OPTICAL ILLUSSION IS THE GHOST IN THE BACKROUND AT THE TOP OF THE PHOTO
IM A TRUE SHOE FETISH GAL! I LOVE THE SHOES! I DONT REALLY CARE MUCH ABOUT THIS ILLUSION BUT I LOVE THE SHOES MMMMM GREAT LEGS BTW CIAO STEVE JOBS RIP! GREAT INSPIRATION TO US ALL MAY HIS LEGACY LIVE ON! NADIA!
did anyone notice the face on the window in the background?
theres a face in the window
this is a total photo shop failure!!!!!! LOL :0
look at r cirled pic !!!!!!!!!!!!!! jealous now!
ppl were actually confused by this????? honestly???????
OMG!!!
it took while for me to understand the whole thing! it’s amazing :))
OMG U GUYS SEE THE GUY IN THE BACK>! sCARy
Solution.
And no one noticed the creeper in the window?