Ghost Hand Optical Illusion

Here’s an awesome one sent in by Joao Gratuliano. It took me really long time before I understood what happened here, supposedly there was no photoshopping involved. How come the hanging bars project a shadow on a background wall, while the hand doesn’t? Can it be that the author is a ghost, or vampire maybe? BTW, they say vampires have no mirror reflection, but what about their shadow? Now that I mentioned it, never thought about it really… Ok, let’s see who solves this one first!

562 Replies to “Ghost Hand Optical Illusion”

  1. Umm… did he somehow color the shadows and the “light” into the wall? As you can see, his hand is not illuminated as the wall is..

  2. there is no shadow of hanging bar.. it design craeted on wall which project as shadow…..
    Simple…. but nice on..

  3. The whole hand is in shadow, the things in front of it too. No light is being cast on them. The shadow on the white surface comes from somewhere else. Of that I’m sure.

  4. His hand isn’t be behind the hanging bars. It doesn’t extend into the frame as far as you think it does – it’s well off to one side. But when photographed from that angle it looks as if it is behind the bars. Clever!

  5. This one has me stumped. I thought the light might be coming from a different angle but I think you would still see the hand. Anybody else figure it out?

  6. My guess is that the shadow isn’t being made by the bars with the hand behind them, but by bars on the other side of the “wall” which is really made of frosted glass. That’s why we see light on the outer edge of the hand.

  7. The shadow is painted on the wall? I think the keys having letters on them is what made me think this was the solution

  8. The reason his hand is not shown is because the light is not hitting it nor is it hitting the typerighter keys. On a typerighter, there the keys do not have gaps/holes in the shape of letters on them, the letters are printed on, just like a keyboard. The keys would have to have gaps/holes in them for the letters to be shown on the wall. You can also tell by looking at the keys that there are not gaps/holes in them.

    1. It could be that the background with the shadow is not a solid wall but like a sort of curtain and the actual shadow we see is projected from the other side.

  9. since there is no spotligt on the hand i suppose it is a translucent backdrop where shadow-casting objects are placed

  10. Okay that’s pretty neat.

    The bars in the picture don’t appear to be in the light so I’m guessing that there’s another structure identical to it outside of the picture that is what is really throwing the shadow, but how they got it to line up with the part of the structure that is attached to the wall I have no idea.

    So, colour me stumped :)

  11. There is another part of the object on the other side of the screen. What we’re seeing is the shadow projected from the other side

  12. My guess is that it is not a real shadow, but a painting of a shadow. If it were a real shadow, the hand would be more brightly illuminated.

  13. Clearly that’s not a shadow at all. The first clue is that the actual structure sticking out of the wall is mostly in shade, only the right hand bar and a little bit of the left hand bar closest to the wall has direct light on it. But secondly, and most importantly, the “shadows” of the keys on the wall have letters on them. These would have to be “holes” in the actual metal keys, but there are none.

    So the “shadow” is either painted on the wall or a projection from a weird angle.

  14. Two photos? One taken without the hand, but a light shining on the sculpture. The other, taken on the same film (a double exposure), of the hand in place without any bright light. There is no really bright light on the hand, yet the light on the wall is very bright, and would have shown on the hand as well.
    IMHO

  15. First I noticed there was not light reflecting off the hand or the bars. The frame appears to protrude some kind of screen like material so I guess the shadow is showing through from the other side. The frame is actually a roof shape structure with bars hanging on both sides.

  16. I’ll give it a whirl. A mirror image of the structure is connected to the original and hanging on the other side of the white spot (a translucent material). The mirror image is back-lit so it show through. Either that or the guy with the hand is dead.

  17. My only thought is that the ‘shadow’ and circle of ‘light’ is drawn on the wall as I cant see the keys giving that fine a definition to the letters in the ‘shadow’.

  18. It’s either an angle thing…..the hand appears to be behind the keys but it’s really off to the side and out of the light.

    Or the shadow is painted on the wall and there is no light.

    1. The light is falling from the top-left of the object. The angle of the shadow and the angle of the white spot of light on the wall are correct and verify this. The thing to note is if shadow of hand is hiding behind the hand, why is it not larger then the hand like other objects.

  19. pretty easy really.
    the ‘shadow’ has in fact been drawn on the wall behind. this is clear because there is no bright light on the bars themselves or the hand, so there shouldn’t be a bright ring.
    still, a nice illusion

  20. I suppose it’s a back projection. The light falls onto the white semi-transparent surface from the back, and an object behind the surface is responsible for the shadow that we see.

    If you look closely at the bars, it seems that the side closest to the viewer is not illuminated which should not be the case if the shadows originated from them.

  21. I think its not a wall, but a projector screen with one of those metal things on each side. The light is coming from the other side to show the shadow of the one on that side and the one on our side has no light shining at it. You can kind of see like there is a hole where the metal bar goes into the “wall” and a little bit of light is shining through.

  22. I think his hand is covering the portion of the shadow, for you can see his body and forearm cause a shadow. so just happens to be the angle of the light source and his stance.

    But again this in only a guess…

  23. there’s something wrong with this picture… the sticks on the image look like pieces of a typewriter and they should not project an empty shadow (“grafo” on the wall). Are you sure there is not photoshop involved?

  24. Probabbly the hand’s very close to the wall, and the illusion come out from a parallaxis misunderstanding… but i still don’t understand the voids inside the lower shadow

  25. The shadow is totally being projected from behind the paper “background” – Otherwise there’d be light on the metal sculpture – and, you can see a hole by where the sculpture sticks through the sheet.

  26. The “solid” wall is a translucent screen with an identical bar poking through the screen illuminated from the other side.

  27. guess that means jigsaw could never catch a homosexual vampire against bat-boy he’d really be all out of luck go! figure it… and raapidly…

  28. well, obviously the light comes from above instead of the front. Meaning there has to be some duplicate letter bars hidden behind the horziontal bar above the hand

  29. rethinking that.. you should see a shadow of the original letter bars.. second guess: the light spot is painted on the wall?

  30. I also noticed that the shadow has letters in coming through the end pieces. I think that what we are seeing might be the shadow of another object out of view cast with precision to look like it is the shadow of the object attached to the wall. The light source must also be at an extreme enough angle to allow the hand (and owner of it) to not cast an additional shadow

  31. Now, I’m not saying that this is the solution, but it’s certainly a good guess. (I hope)

    I’m guessing… that there is no light source. The wall was painted with a light shade of white and the shadow of the item was painted with a light source. Then after removing the light source, the person stuck his/her hand in the mural, and without a lightsource, poof! No hand shadow.

    OR…

    (The less complicated way) Would be that the thing (Whatever it is) is glued onto a projection screen and (Again) the shadow is painted on before hand. Then somebody was holding a flashlight to the back of the projection screen to make it look as if there is a light source shining on the item, but making it look as if the hand is not casting a shadow.

    I get the feeling I’m going to get a lot of “tl;dr’s” on this one…

    1. it is really great art for any engineering or physics class but maybe it is just a simple yet fantastic double exposure and it is the real photo of the real shadow on the wall. The illusion would be better if there were a key held in the hand.

  32. I think that the shadow is drawn on the wall in this one. On the shadow, you can see the letters “GRAFO” as if the letters were cut out of the metal. But when looking at the metal dots on the bottom, they appear solid, with no letters cut out.

  33. If you look just above the arm, you can see the shadow of the man’s biceps and elbow. This means that the shadow of his hand is right behind his actual hand. The only solution can be that his hand is nót behind the hanging bars but to the left of them. They just seem to be behind the bars because of the angle at which the photo was taken.

  34. Hmmm. I think it’s painted on the wall. There really isnt any light coming in from anywhere, hence there is no shadow to be cast.

  35. The hand is held further away and to the left than it seems? Also, the lightning isn’t coming directly from the front.

  36. It’s just trick photography to make it look like his hand is behind the bars of you look at the other shadow of the guy they don’t match up.

  37. I think I know… maybe… I believe his hand isn’t in the light at all (obviously) but based on the angle of the bars supporting the keys the light is directed away from the hand, also the angle of the shot could make the hand seem closer the the light… I don’t know, just a theory really

  38. I’m guessing there is no light being shone on the part, and the “spotlight” and shadow on the wall has been pained there to make it appear as if there is a shadow being cast. Therefore, there would be no shadow of the hand on the wall.

  39. The shadow is painted on the wall.

    Looking at where the bracket attaches to the wall, you can see the ‘real’ shadow going straight down, just trough the painted shadow.

    Also, the letters on the typewriter keys wouldn’t be visible if it was a proper shadow – there are no holes in the keys.

  40. I’m guessing that the shadow on the wall isn’t a shadow. It’s been painted on, and the lighting is done so that no shadow is cast on the wall

  41. i think that since his hand is to the side of the bars so just a little bit of a shadow appears, but the little shadow is covered by his hand so its not see and people think that is is no shadow at all

  42. Simple. The shadow that’s visible is not the shadow of the hardware shown. It cannot be. For one thing, the hanging objects on the hardware are at more or less a right angle to the bar that holds them. In the shadow, they cannot be, regardless of the angle of incidence cast by the light source. The shadow is from something *on the other side* of the translucent white panel, which is at a continuation of the hardware shown on *this side* of the panel. The hand and hardware are both in shadow, and therefore cannot cast one of their own.

  43. First!!

    Anyways, the bars go in thru the other side of the wall, you can tell by the big white circle, and by looking at the ends of the bars, they bend in thru the other side.

  44. The perfectly formed letters in the shadow, and the absence of any reflected light on the hand, watch, or near side of the object, makes me think it’s painted and not a shadow at all.

  45. Is it attached to a clear glass surface and the bars are going away from the viewer? That doesn’t necessarily explain it though.

    Its also possible there really isn’t a light shining on it and the shadow is painted on the wall.

  46. yes it is a paint on the wall otherwise the light would apear in his hand and in the bars ITS A PAINTING IN THE WALL

  47. Why do I get the feeling that photo has been flipped and the light source is from a window? That white oval looks like a table to me which easily explains the lack of shadow from the hand.

  48. It looks to me like the bars are painted on the hand, so the hand is actually in front of the bars, not behind. Then its just a question of shining the light so it misses the hand, but hits the rest.
    If you look closely at the edge of the hand, the bars do not quite match exactly with the bars as they cross the hand.

    It could probably also be done by painting the pattern on the wall so that its not a shadow, but that isnt the case here.

  49. i think the shadow it’s come from the other side of the illuminated paper .am i wright ? :)

    se pare ca umbra vine din cealalta parte a hitiei luminate …:)

  50. it’s really easy the camra or photo was taken at a angel a very steep angle so the hand is not really behind it it’s off to the side of it and you would see the hand’s shadow in the background but his hand is in the shade part so you don’t see his hand and thus giving the optical illusion that his hand is behind the metal thing.

  51. also, the letters on the brown bars are perfectly horizontal, while they should be in elonged (oblong) by the light. moreover, the black bars don’t show letters on them.

  52. The background has a transparency and allows the same structure on the other side (without the hand) to be shown with a bright light (as a shadow). The hand and the foreground structure are through ambient light?

  53. Hmm… I am not sure but I think that the light and shadow on the wall is painted on, because there doesnt seem to be any light on the hand. OR… there is a similar instalation on the other side of the “wall” and the the light is coming from the other side. The second option is probably my best best guess. Still not sure though :S

  54. It is a translucent canvas with a similar metal frame mounted on the other side of the canvas reflecting a similar shadow. The lighted area on the canvas is not being reflected from this side where the hand is but from the other side.

  55. My guess is it’s a foreshortening effect. The wall attachment is not coming straight out from the wall as it appears but is stretched towards the camera. Very good effect.

  56. It’s not an actual shadow. You can look closely and see the actual shadow of the object along with the shadow of the hand. It’s faint, but it IS there. Besides the light would not be able to pass through the keys and display clear lettering as it shown in the “shadow”.

  57. My guess is that it’s not a shadow at all, but an illuminated panel with a matching sculpture inside to give the illusion of the outer sculpture giving off a shadow. The lack of corresponding shadow on the outer sculpture and the letters illuminated on the panel give it away.

  58. There doesn’t seem to be any light falling on the front of the object. The part you’d expect to be lit up from the direction of the light is actually darker than the bits closest to the wall. So, I’m guessing that the light patch and shadow is painted on the wall, not a real shadow at all.

  59. Very nice! I see two possibilities:

    1. The shadow is painted on the wall.

    2. The shadow is a real shadow but is from another similar device that is off camera (say below the field of view).

    Either method explains the lack of strong light on the keys that would be needed to produce the shadow and contrast on the wall.

  60. Easy. There is a similar one on the other side if the screen and what we see is the shadow of that. Rather than the one in front with the hand.

    Good one though!

  61. First comment!
    The shadow and light were painted? I don’t see the light on the hand. I don’t know, since I’m only 12. By the way, I love your site

  62. is the “shadow” painted on the wall then?? I’m also confused as how they could get G R A F O in “light” to appear

  63. My guess is the shadows is actually not really a shadow of the typerwriter keyes hanging on the wall, but painted on.

    You can clearly see the lettering in the “shadow” but if you look at the keys, they are attached to the bar so there is no way the letters can “shine” through then.

  64. As you can see, the hand and bars aren’t illuminated by the spotlight falling from the top/middle left.
    My thought is, that the shadow is either painted on the wall, or that the Shadows come from another source, hanging in the air by very thin threads, precisely arranged to look like that. A possible identificator for this would be the strange shadow on the top right of the corner of the right bar. In my opinion it’s too big and round to come from the bar sticking out of the wall.

  65. The “shadow” is coming from the other side of a translucent sheet. The apparatus pokes through it and looks the same on the other side.

  66. wow, I don’t know. I’m gonna have to look at this for a while. I thought maybe it was a mirror trick but I still don’t see how the hand would be there unless the reflection is painted on the wall…

  67. The light is clearly not on the hand so that’s one reason for no shadow. But the “shadow” of the typewriter levers also shows letters on the keys, which is not possible if the light is on the actual keys. SO that means that the shadow on the wall is a painted-on shadow.

  68. The Shadow Shows Some Letters Spelling “GRAFO”. Yet It Seems Wrong That The Shadow Is Showing The Letters When The Square Shaped Objects Are Facing The Other Way. And As For The Hand I’m Really Stumped. Anyone Have An Idea?

  69. Light sensitive wall, it keeps an afterimage of the shadow after light shines on it. You can tell there isn’t light on the bar right now because there’s no light shining on it now.

  70. First!
    i think the hand is farther from the camera than it looks like and its shadow is in the dark area of the wall

  71. This one is tricky. There’s no shadow at all. The apparent ‘shadow’ is simply a painting on a wall- the circle of light is as well.

  72. The fact that the ‘shadow’ keys have letters on them gives away the fact that it isn’t a shadow at all – so I imagine the ‘shadow’ is painted

  73. I am guessing that the hand is further left and the picture is just taken at an angle so that it looks like the hand is behind the bars…. It’s a cool sculpture though :)

  74. I suspect that the image on the wall, that is represented as a shadow of the typwriter keys is actually not a shadow but a graphic actually on the wall. There does not seem to be any “shine” or light on the surface of the typwriter keys as there should be to result in a shadow like the one on the wall especially as the letters of the keys are portrayed in the “shadow”.

  75. there has to be more than one light source… one coming from the bars and one coming from the left to right, as you observe the picture… that is why the shadow shows at least two different bends in the object.

  76. The hand is off the the left and the light is on the right side. The photo isn’t head on for a reason. The hands shadow is actually in the shadow to the left of the light and can’t be seen. It isn’t directly behind the nails. Its all about the point of view of the camera.

  77. If you look at the hand and the dangling keys then you see there is no light shining on them, the shadow is not caused by the foreground elements, but is probably a projection from an oblique angle.

    I expect its done by taking a photograph of a real shadow on the wall from the position of the projector, then projecting the picture back on the wall

  78. well since the metal frame has no light shining on the front of it to cause the shadow on the wall.. the wall must be made of a sheet or paper where the light is on the other side.

  79. The hand is in shadow – so cannot be casting a shadow… Is the structure on the other side of the perspex? Is there a light source on the other side that is casting a shadow on to the perspex?

  80. my guess is that the light is shone so that the hand isn’t in the light, just barely behind. the hand is real, because you can barely see the shadow of the arm to the left of the brighter light, so it is not painted onto the wall. plus, the spokes don’t cast a shadow on the hand
    hope i got it right, ’cause I’m only 12.

  81. nifty! since you can see there’s no light shining on the bars hanging down (or the hand) I’m pretty sure the “light” that you see shining is just painted on, along with the “shaddow” of the entire metal…device thingy. Additional, I’m pretty sure those are typewriter keys, and they would be solid, and therefore would not allow the “light” to pass through and show the letters in the shaddow. But really cool idea!!!

  82. Well the simplest solution is that the shadows are just painted on. Of course I can’t test it without seeing this thing in person…

  83. It looks to me like the shadow is painted on a light source of some type, and not actually a shadow at all. The letters on the shadow keys would not show through fully as they are shown, as you can see no holes in the actual keys, and the connection to the keys would block any light.

  84. it would seem the shadows are being cast from behind a translucent screen and the sclupture extends behind what’s seen here. The hand and forground object don’t appear to be in the same light that would seemingly cast this shadow.

  85. I’m not sure, but could there be two separate images? The shadow image appears to be different from the “real image”. The shadow image is not coming from the hanging image. Strange illusion…….

  86. Well…the light doesn’t look as if it is actually coming from the direction of the hand – more the top left corner. That must mean the shadow of the dangly things are not actually from those in the picure?
    Maybe??

  87. I think there is actually no light source, the shadow and the ‘light’ circle is painted on the wall – as it doesn’t look like there is light shining on the black metal frame…

  88. The spotlight is actually painted on the wall along with the hanging bars shadows. The room is dark as you can see in the rest of the photo. There are no shadows in the room.
    Yea!
    Fist one here!

  89. I see no light on the hand. Perhaps the lines are painted on the hand to appear that it is behind the object whereas it actually isn’t?

  90. Maybe thers an identical object above and the light is coming from above aswell so only catch the 2 bars on the wall…ahh dont know…anyone got a clue?..the sticks seem to me pretty distorced anyway..

  91. My guess is that the shadow of the bars arent from the bars shown on the picture. I think some other bars are hanging out of sight and the light is coming from above that.
    It’s quite obvious the light is coming from above and not from the front (check direction of shadow).

  92. As the hand is not so bright as the background, I can think of two solutions:

    1. The bars have simetrical ones on the other side of the white screeen.

    2. The white screen is photosensitive. First exposed with high intensity light, shadow created, then under indirect light, photo with hand.

  93. Camera angle, you can tell by the fact that there’s no light on the hand. The hand is actually quite a distance from the bars, and the bars should be rather small, with the right camera angle the illusion is complete.

  94. Um, im not sure, but maybe there’s another exact copy of the bars on the other side of the wall, and the light coming from that side. I’m probably wrong though. It’s probably something about the positioning of the hand…

  95. I think the bright background and “shadows” are painted and there is no shadow formed by the actual hand or bars.

  96. It’s paint. The image on the wall has been painted there and the picture was taken with general indirect lighting. Look at the shadow ends of the vertical bars: they have legible letters seemingly cut out of them. But to focus a light that would show them all clearly is next to impossible.

  97. Well, there doesn’t seem to be any light actually falling on the structure so I’m guessing the entire shadow is fake… painted onto the wall perhaps?

  98. Number one There is no Light shinning on the hand or arm with bright intensity. The background is painted on the wall. If you notice the tan color of the wall and that the shadow are the same, then you will know that a shadow is not Tan but grey!

  99. the shadow’s painted on. you can tell because none of the light is on the hand. took me like 5 secs. i feel smart :)

  100. i think there really isn’t a light shining its just a painting of a shadow behind it. this would only work from our perspective of course as it would look distorted from other viewpoints. btw this took me a second to think of so i may be wrong.

  101. I think that the shadow and circle of light is being projected from the other side of the wall/screen with identical items on that side so you can see it but not affect its shadow.

  102. painted on the wall, no sun on the hand, and numerals don’t appear so in shadows love this widget ! thanks for all your work and special talents.

  103. its the angle the hand is on the shadows are on angles as well so his hand is just underneth the photo i could be wrong im not very good at optical illsuions

  104. The background “wall” is translucent and the shadows seen on it are from something behind it. You can figure it out because there is no bright light on the mechanical parts or the hand shown in the foreground.

  105. The hand is at angle where is it not in the light’s path. Also, the camera is angled to a point to make the hand appear behind the object when it is really just on the side of the object!

  106. I would say painted wall judging by the slight light reflections from the top of the hanging bars. If you look at the left bar right next to the wall you can see just a little ways out how it is reflecting the white circle, that would mean that light is bouncing off the wall, then reflecting off the bar. If the light was shinning and casting that shadow you would not be able to see the reflection like that and the whole bar would be a uniform color. Also if you look at the shadow the man is casting it shows that the light in the room is coming from a different angle.

  107. Is it because the hanging bars are smaller than you think, and his hand is further away, with it’s shadow falling outside of the circle of light?

  108. There is no actual shadow but rather another set of hanging bars attached which are behind some sort of semi-transparent wall.

  109. It is the angle of the light vs angle of the camera vs placement of the hand . . . something like . . . focused light source from above left and downward to the right (shining directly through the hanging bars) . . . the camera angle is from the center right directly towards the opposite center left imaginary point on the wall . . . with the hand placement basically centered but off to the left slightly behind and parallel with the bars but just out of the outside edge of the light source so in the photo it appears to be directly behind behind the bars.

  110. I think not only the hand has no shadow on the wall. Nothing else has…
    The bright light and the shadows are painted on the wall.
    BTW there is no shadow of the bars on the hand, also (oh, right: it’s a ghost hand, that’s why).
    So who/what is GRAFO (see the text on the key’s shadow”)?

  111. My guess is that due to the angle of the shadow the light is up and to the left hand side.
    Secondly,the two shadows of the left and right had supports coming from the wall are not parallel suggesting that these supports are not the same length. The one on the right hand side being longer. And thridly the hand is not in the middle of the contraption but flat against the wall.
    What stumps me though is why there is a shadow of the arm above the arm, suggesting a soft light below.! (Maybe a second soft light to create the illusion?)

  112. I’m thinking that this is caused by the positioning of the hand, bars, and camera. I think that the hand is far enough to the left of the bars to create a shadow, while the camera is far enough to the right to make it appear as though the hand was directly behind the bars.

  113. Is it perhaps a not a wall but a plexiglass divider with the same object on the other side. and the light source also on the other side.

  114. I’m guessing the shadow is drawn onto the wall.. but then again, you do see the light on the wall too.. i dont get it.

  115. possibly its not a shadow. the hanging bars duplicated on far side of white screen are casting a shadow. this is possible if that is a symmetrical object with two sets of hanging bars.

  116. First observations are there is no strong light on the hand or bits of metal, so the it cant be a shadow thats been cast, so my guess is thats the shadow is painted on the wall.

    That said, there is a shadow from the arm just behind the watch at a completely different angle to what the metel work would be.

  117. The shadow is probably just painted on the wall in the background. The light does not hit the objeckt nor the hand.

  118. Im not sure about this….but I think its just angles and lighting. The shadow from the arm is still there and straight behind it. But the shadow from the bars is very angled as if the light source is coming from somewhere completely different. The angle of the camera could be used to make the hand look like it is behind the keys when its not.

    But, somehow, I feel like I’m missing something. Hrrrmm.

  119. It looks like the light is coming from top left in the image and the light doesnt fall on the objects in the front.

  120. Just had another thought about this one, I now think there is another scupture above and to the left of the one we can see, and its the shadow from that scupture we see on the wall. If you look at the scupture we can see, where it joins the wall, it doesn’t quite line up with the shadown suggesting its a different shadow.

    The hand is just out of the beam of light hence it not been illuminated.

  121. Its like that romeo and juliet illusion. It looks like the hand is in front of the bars, but its on the back. oh and FIRST!

  122. I don’t think it’s a shadow. Possibly a drawing. Check the small letters in the bottom, don’t think it’s possible to get them that visible.

  123. It isn’t a shadow. Maybe a projected image or a painting on the wall.

    You can read the letters “GRAFO” on the key’s shadow but the keys aren’t hollow or transparent.
    Also the sticks and keys does not appear to be floodlit

  124. This is a perspective illusion. The way the object is illuminated and the position of the hand made it invisible on the shadow. You can see the direction of the light with the shadow of the structure…

  125. The bars are not projecting a shadow. Its an image or paint on the wall.

    The giveaway was the characters on the bars and the shadow of the person which is projected on the brown area.

  126. Oh ok.. i think i finaly got it haha.. took me a good minute but i do believe the LIGHT and the SHADOWS are both PAINTED on the wall… if u look JUST below the post to the right u can see the shadow of the post casted STRAIGHT down the wall. its faint but its there.

  127. the wall is not solid, but a translucent screen.
    The same object is on the other side of the screen, as is the light source. You can tell this because the angle of the light source would not show the letters, if it was on the hand side of the screen.

  128. There’s also the question “why do the keys have visible letters, when it is impossible for them to have holes in the correct place to throw those shadows?” My guess is that what looks like a shadow is a painting.

    The only other explanation I can think of is that the hand is made up of loads of photos aligned with the direction the light is falling, but that doesn’t explain the letters.

  129. It’s not a shadow. You can see that there isn’t enough light hitting the top of the bars where his hand is, and also the “shadow” is darker where the hanging bars intersect the other bar.

  130. Hi all !
    Nice illusion.
    Shadows is painted ?
    I can see something that is like a light vertical shadow under the left bar…

  131. The shadow isn’t in fact a shadow and it is drawn on the wall? And the area of wall around the ‘shadow’ is painted a lighter shade to give the illusion of a light being shined on it? With the construction of the object I cant see how the letters could project such shadows on the wall without other parts of the object blocking parts of them (If it is assumed that the letters are holes through the circles on the object). Thats what leads me to believe my theory….

  132. The piece is mounted on opaque perspex with a light shone from behind – which is why the word ‘grafo’ is visible, wouldn’t be if light was passing through the keys we could see. The light in the room with the man is mainly vertical above the piece (as can be seen by the vertical shadows down near where the bars enter the wall), with some incident light coming from behind him. This in turn isn’t showing up on the well lit area in front of him.

  133. Back projected shadow of identical construction from behind a translucent screen? Is the clue in the circular glow from a lamp that may be behind the set and the light spot around where the construction pokes through a screen?

  134. Its all in the perspective. We are seeing this from only 1 angle. If you look at what looks like typewriter keys, and look at their corresponding shadows, they are having a light source shone on them at a different angle than we are seeing them. As for the hand, it is directly behind the keys from OUR angle, but not the angle in which the light is coming from.

  135. Neither the hand nor the rack are lighted, so the “shadow” is not being cast by them. If not digitally modified, then the shadow might be painted on the wall.

  136. There’s another set identical to the 6 bars outside the picture. You can tell because the shadow created by the bars on the wall indicate that the light is above to the left of the pictures, which is not what the bars’ shadows indicates.

  137. the shadow has been paintend on the wall.
    These are bars from an old typing machine, and it’s impossible the letters can cast that kind of shadow, same way they should have been mirrord, and backwards for us to read.

  138. their was no light projection but a painted shadow. the shadow of the “top” “striker” would have pointed in the same direction as the main stakes, and it wouldn’t have letters on the keys

  139. I don`t know how it´s made, but seems to me that the object is divided, as the shadow overlaps in the base of letter A.

  140. Hi,

    I think there is no light at all, just the painting on the wall create the illusion of light spot, and the shadow is also painted.
    If there would be a light in that direction, the whole structure should be brighter.

  141. There’s always the possibility that the spotlight and shadow are simply painted on the wall. But I’m sensing it is somehting smarter than that.

  142. There is no light on his hand, or the bar infront of it, hence no shadows. there must be a second set of bars behind that are not seen from this angle.

  143. Perspex sheet with light shining from behind the wall onto a frame which is the same on both sides. As there is no light shining onto this side of the frame. :)

  144. I have been staring at this photo for the past 10 minutes, and I have honestly no idea what is happening here. The best I can think of would be that his hand is against the wall, touching it so that there is no shadow. But… that doesn’t explain why the prongs look the way they do (all bent and crap). I just don’t get it.
    If anyone has additional insight (or just the answer), that’d be rad.

  145. My guess would be that the hand is aligned perpendicular to the wall. I’m not sure whether this would mean it does or doesn’t have a shadow though…

  146. I guess that the light is rather a painting and the same goes for the shadow. That is there is NO shadow.The person has painted the wall a bright shade of white to make tit look as if it is in the spot light. then painted the shadow of the bars.

  147. It is not a shadow, thats why! The “shadow” was painted or drawn on the wall as part of the art piece. You can see a slight shadow from the arm and body on the left side and that shadow does not correspond with the shadow of the art…..so the art piece shadow must not be a shadow at all! If I am right, the shadow from his hand is right behind his hand and that is why you cant see it :)

  148. Looking at the edge of the “spotlight” coverage, you can see that the white is actually painted on. Since the supposed shadow is the same color as the other background, I must conclude that the apparent shadow is a stenciled relief. clever one though…

  149. I’m not sure. I can only think that the “shadow” and light are actually painted on the wall and there isn’t really a shadow being cast at all.

  150. Here is my guess. The bright circle of light is part of the art piece, not a spot light at all. Therefore the shadow of the keys (or whatever the letter things are) were painted on the white spot. My clue? Well on the left side of the picture, you can see the outline of the man’s shadow. If his shadow is over there then how can the light on the keys be a real light.

  151. Love your site. This is a good one, took a while. I believe the light and shadow are painted on the wall, it isn’t really a shadow at all, but it really makes you think.

  152. The light and shadow that appears on the far wall was painted on. If you look closely at the bottom of the shadow, letters are visible.

  153. Hi.

    I think it is a picture in the wall, I see the letters “grafo” in the false shadow while it is not possible to see it in the metal thing.

    On the other hand it is possible to see the shadow of the arm to the left of the white circle.

    it was a great job!!!

  154. The guy is holding the 5 thingies (or these are attached to his hand) and the shadow comes from something which is off the image?

    The letters in the shadow somehow don’t match the shadow direction of the metal bars IF the thingies actually made this shadow on the wall.

  155. I think of two possibilities:

    1- The hand is touching the wall in a way that makes us seem it’s in front of the hanging bars.

    2- The light is projected not from the front but from the left.

  156. I really think the background is painted. If you look closely, you’ll see the letters of the keys are shown in the “shadow”. I don’t believe those types of keys cause that kind of shadow, especially with the way the bars are attached to them. The letters wouldn’t show in shadow because the bars block them!!!! :D Took me a while to figure out tho.

  157. That’s ART on the wall!! I think it’s a photo of a set up metalwork and hand, and a picture on the wall. (but who knows?)

  158. I’m just guessing but, maybe the answer is that the shadow is actually a paint in a white canvas. Or perhaps there is another structure at he opposite side of the circle and we are seeing the shadow because the wall is translucent

  159. it looks to me that the shadow is product of photoshop because while shadow falls under a fixed angle light seems to be stronger near the wall and weaker in the edge of the objext and his hand and on the other hand side the hanging things from the object are parallel to the wall while on the shadow they seem to be located on the same line

  160. The angle the light it shining at causes the hand to be hidden. The shadow of the hand is the shadow of the bar… that’s my guess.

  161. My guess is that the light and another similar object are on the other side of a semi-transparent object. Or the shadow is only a drawing of a shadow which IMO is lame.

  162. My only one idea is :
    the bars are behind the hand on which is the light (on the back). And on the face of the hand (the face which is visible), are painted the bars. The illusion come from this painting which give us the illusion that the hand is behind the bars, and it’s not the case…

  163. It’s the angle of the light causing the shadow combined with the angle of the picture. If you look closely on the left side of the image you can see a shadow of the guys arm.

  164. mmm… Maybe its not a chadow but a painting :D
    Because… In the left side theres a shadow, that seems to be the mans. following that pattern… the shadow of the bars should be on the other side.
    Hipothesis ^^u

  165. Hi,

    I think there are no light at all, just a wall painting that create the illusion of spot light. The light and the shadow is painted.
    If you think a bit a real light should illuminate the hand and the whole structure, but this one not :)

    1. You can tell because at that distance, the letters in the key shadows wouldn’t be in focus enough for you to read them.

  166. Ok. I’m sure I’m not the first to tell you how this works. Various details show this isn’t a shadow. If there was a light source, there would be shadows of the keys on the hand. The key letters wouldn’t show though to show up on the shadow. The circular light source is very distinct, yet you can’t see it end on his arm (which could be argued that his whole arm is lit in the photo.

    The answer is that the “shadow” is actually a painting.

    But now I’ll go one step farther. Like in a yesterday’s pictures of the guy who paints himself like the background, it could be that this is similar. There is no 3 dimentional metal extrusion! That is all paint too. So then the hand in front has the keys painted accross it.

    I’m sure that’s not the case here, but post that idea and somebody will do it.

    Thanks.
    Shelly

  167. I can’t say for sure but I think the shadow is a fake. I think it has been painted on the wall, then backlit to actually prevent shadow from being created by the protruding bars (I don’t know what to call that thing). There is some lettering at the bottom of the piece that looks a little suspicious in terms of shadow. In this picture its hard to discern, but it looks like the bars meet the little keys where the letter would show through.

  168. The construction in front is mounted on an opaque glass plate and is also on the other side. That reflection is visible as a shadow on this photograph…

  169. Possible Spoiler!!! (If I am right)

    Well as far as I can tell the shadow is not cast but physical. Painted on or something like that.

    I think that as the shadow is sharp and would require a brite light, which shows on the wall, but the main bars and the hand are not being illuminated by it…

    Close or spot on?

  170. Tricky…
    Hmmm… maybe it’s not a shadow? The white circle looks like milk glass… maybe we se a shadow from behind the milk glass??

  171. Not quite difficult… If you look at the light in his hands, it’s clear that it’s not receiving the same bright light which comes to the wall, and you can see part of arm’s shadow al left.

    So, what we see in the wall are not shadows, but DRAWINGS of shadows. Sensational!

  172. The hand is simply not behind the Bars. You believe it is because you have here a nice brain cheater perspective effect.

  173. Something else is casting that shadow, maybe on the light source itself? (1) The bar on the L is lit near the wall, but not the rest of the way (2) no light falling on the man’s hand (3) the keys in the sculpture don’t have holes in them (4) what appears to be the man’s shadow visible on the wall to the left

  174. angle of the lighting? seems like the hand isn’t directly behind the keys either, so I guess the angle of the photo as well.

  175. The shadows on the wall and spot light are painted on the wall giving the illusion of depth.
    Also, the typewriter keys hanging don’t appear to have holes in them for the light to pass through and cast their shadow on the wall. Do they even have typewriters with knocked out letters on the buttons?

  176. The ‘shadow’ was painted on? That’s all I can come up with. :) It’s pretty cool, though! Thanks, and keep up the GREAT work!!! :)

  177. My guess would be that you are looking at a shadow projected on the screen from something behind the screen, the bar and the hand are not on the side that is making the shadow.

  178. Well I belive that the way it’s put together, There is an exact replica of the thing above it. When the light shines at a certain angle it casts a shadow that looks like it is coming from the real thing….it really simple!

  179. It’s the angle of the light with respect to the hand. The hand is not directly behind the hanging typewriter letters, but it looks like it is because the 2D image fools our sense of depth. I could be completely wrong though, I’m not about to rule out vampires.

  180. The light source for the shaddow is above and to the left, and there is anoter set of manual typewriter keys above and to the left out of sight. Notice the letters on the set that is in the shaddow. Also, notice that there is a light and a dark shaddow below the righthand horizontal bar. This suggests two different shaddows: one for the visible horizontal bar and one for the bar that is above and out of sight.

  181. My first guess would be that the shadow is simply painted on the wall.

    My second guess would be the white part is actually a frosted window, and the “shadow” is actually another structure behind the glass.

    1. as opposed to the shadow being painted on the wall, it looks to me like the hand is painted on the wall with the bars positioned to where it looks like they are near the hand.

    1. to back that theory up some more, you notice how the typewriter keys and back wall are lit, yet the hand front is in complete shadow?

  182. I Wanna Say Its A Thin Wall And The Lights Coming From The Other Side, And As For Vampire With Shadows A Good Movie To Watch Would Be Van Helsing, No Reflection And Draculas Shadown Actually Damages Shit lol

  183. You can clearly see his shadow on the back left of that wall.
    The “white” area picture was taken at a different time and merged – or – the “white” area is on the other side of the projected wall and it’s just a backdrop or something similar

  184. The apparatus is duplicated on the other side of the wall. The wall is translucent, with a strong spotlight shining on it from the back, so you see the shadow of the duplicate.

  185. Maybe it’s not a real shadow, but a painting of a shadow.

    The light is not shining on the hand or the sculpture.

    The line separating the tan wall and the white circle of light is too defined.

  186. FIRST?

    does anybody know? i’m not seeing comments yet, is it just me or has nobody guess yet? maybe it’s the angle of the camera?

  187. The spot light and shadow cast on the wall are painted on in such a way as to give the illusion of depth.
    Also, the the keys don’t appear to be lit by the spot light. If the bright light was shining on them they would reflect some of it.

  188. It is not a shadow at all. There is no light being cast at the hand. It is an image behind the black frame making it appear to be an a frame.

  189. Its a flashlight shinning through a thick bottlecap lense. Depending how you move it (back and forth) you can get the shadow of your hand to appear….perhaps thats why the letters on the ends of those hanging bars show cleary, because its a magnified thick bottlecap lens. ?

  190. Quite simple. The hanging bar is illumineted full on, the hand is beside the bar, we can see it is not illuminated. From the camera’s POV, hand appears to be behind the hanging rods

  191. I am guessing that the wall is actually a translucent screen, and there is a similar object behind which is lit from the other side?

  192. Maybe his hand is on top of a white board painted carefully and behind the bars,and the shadow is hidden,and the shadow on the wall is painted carefully.That’s my theory,even if it’s a little-okay VERY-unlikely,and it’s a little complex for an illusion.Or it’s all a sticker,and the ‘shadow’ is painted.

  193. i think it may be that they hand is actually on the wall? is that possible? So we can’t really see the shadow of the hand because the hand is placed on the wall..may be :) hope its right…

  194. I first noticed that the hand is not in light, so I thought it was an angle. But then I realized that the typewriter keys are also not lit from the front, so this isn’t a shadow from those keys.

  195. Re: Ghost hand.
    Not entirely convinced. Look closely at wall, you will see G R A F O, the letters from the keypads. Would they not be reversed in rear projection?

    1. Yes, there is a darker point in the very middle of front cross-bar shadow, a shadow cant be darker at some point like that.

      There is also an “O” showing in shadow for right most key where as on the key its “S” if looked at closely.

  196. 1)The object is dark so the shadow is not from this object BUT
    2)some imperfections of the object are also present in the shadow (the gap between the second and the third letter is smaller than the gap between the third and the fourth both on the object and the shadow)
    3)it’s possible that the letters(GRAFO) are indeed the letters of the keys because G,A and F are longer than R and O and at a QWERTY keyboard G,A and F are on the second row while R and O are on the first
    4) even whith the normal light of the room the object should project a shadow which doesn’t happen,so there is a strong light coming from behind – a semitransparent wall or a circle flat lamp on the wall with a semitransparent surface in front of the lightbulb
    5)if you look at the point where “A” key meets the horizontal bar the “shadow” is slightly darker which means that the thing that produces the “shadow” was in two pieces that were put together and at this point they overlayed one another slightly
    After all these I assume that they first lightened the object an took a photograph of the real shadow(it explains 2 and 3),then they edited in in a computer,writing the real letters in every key(I guess a reason to do this is because it seems to be a piece of art so writing the letters is part of the artwork) and printed it in two pieces and then they sticked it on the back side of the semitransparent surface so it forms the “shadow”

  197. If you look closely where the bars reach the edge of the fingers, you can see that there is some warping on the fingers.

    The bars are painted onto the hand (expertly)so that the painted bars on the hand merge with the real bars that are actually behind the hand. This is similar to the guy who paints himself to blend into the scenery.

    Since the hand is in front of the bars, the light source can shine on the bars and cast a shadow, while the hand is far enough in front of the bars that the light doesnt strike it and cast a shadow.

  198. The trick is very simple. The wall is very thin and on the other side there is the same structure, where the shadow is a projection behind the wall. I mean, the spot light is behind the wall so there is no reason to look for the hand shadow.
    dis is da aswer given by Joa Lima( hop i spelled it right)

  199. The background wall with shawdow is a picture with hanging bars mounted on top of picture. That’s why there is no hand shawdow.

  200. well the hand and arm are real…
    If you look closely at the wall, at the section not lit in white, then there are two variations of grey in the shadow, and thedarker part furthest left clearly is that of a shoulder, an upper arm… and perhaps there is even a stomach below the hand visible.
    Does anyone know what “grafo” means? Italian is it? Perhaps it might give some clue to the creation of this…
    Personally I think the hand is probably painted with black stripes across it, then carefully positioned between camera and rack to look like it is behind (I have seen this before. And it would not catch in the light therefore. Hence, no shadow.

  201. Theres an appendage like the front image attached through small openings, with the back piece angled lower appearing as a shadow via a linht source and translucent material, either plastic or glass, leaving no visible shadow on the translucent area.

  202. Well, I think thats it is a FAKE. There is NO light casting around, so they probably shut the window in broad daylight! To say, it probably was cut out of the camera. So it is a FAKE!
    Nice try, didn’t fool me there.

    1. Or just mabey somethings blocking the sunlight from coming in……..like I said…..a window but they are in a light that can’t cause shadows……

  203. The vector of the light thru the bars to the wall is perpendicular to the hanging bars. The vector of the lens thru the bar is angled from the right to the left giving the image that the hand is in the lights perpendicular plane, when in fact, the hand is to the far left of that plane. This can be confirmed by the faint shadow of the person on the wall to the left of the light reflection. It’s all a matter of angle of view that distorts it to the illusion.

  204. The light is clearly not on the hand so that’s one reason for no shadow. But the “shadow” of the typewriter levers also shows letters on the keys, which is not possible if the light is on the actual keys AND the keys are NOT opaque. SO that means that the shadow on the wall is a painted-on shadow.

  205. It is painted on the wall. Two things that point to this are the “shadow” letters on the wall are to clear based on the angle of the shadow. The second thing is that the “shadows” of the brackets angles do not match each other or the the brackets themself. The other posability is that the white circle around the object is frosted glass with a simaler mount and light source being back lite. i can’t tell from the picture if the white is paint or frosted glass.

    1. the shadows are painted on the wall
      there is no sun light on the hand
      so it can not produce a shadow simple

    2. @zysmith… The keys do actually have letters on them but none of which are illuminated. If you zoom in and look at the key on the right of the structure it is an “S” but on the wall it shows an “O”; therefore, the structure is not what is casting the shadow on the wall. I agree with the people who are saying that there is another structure on the other side of the wall and that the wall is thin and a bright light is being shined on the opposite structure. Also if you look at the shadow of the arm you will notice that it is being cast from a light that seems to be either parallel to or below the arm eventhough the shadow of the structure is being cast downwards from a light above it. Another possibility is that the “light” and “shadow” were indeed painted on the wall. But in response to your post the keys are not solid, although the keys of the structure are different as compared to the ones on the wall

  206. If you look really closely at the white thing where the apparatus seems to touch it, you can actually see a small hole on the right side. The white thing is PART OF the apparatus, and as other people have said the black part is duplicated on the other side. There’s no paint involved, just a lighting trick.

  207. I think his hand is on the wall, and the light is coming straight on, so his shadow would be under his hand, and the bars’ shadow is on the wall, the camera is angled so it looks like the hand is behind the bars, but in reality, it’s not.

    1. Well, they put his or her hand at an angle. Then take the picture at an angle but ,its simple really if you look at it.

    2. ha ha .. the hand is not at the back of the bars. it on the side only. so i doesnt give any shadows. rite?

  208. The supposed shadow is actually painted on the wall. You can see the letters on the keys that are painted on the wall which are not cut into the typewriter keys hanging in the structure since the keys are solid, hence there is no light source actually casting any shadow and therefore no hand shadow.

    1. you know… i was just about to send an angry reply about how you’re just assuming (shame on me :P) and that you just couldn’t see them at that angle and all that stuff, then i realised that if you couldn’t see them anywhere other than straight on, the shadow would have solid keys

  209. The white thing appears to be circular, perhaps some type of thin, transparent, oval posterboard. There is some natural light on the foreground.
    No one else has mentioned that the black bars do NOT appear to be in the light except on the right side & closer to the white ‘wall’.
    There is a small hole in the wall which makes me think the bars continue through the white ‘wall’. There is a light on the opposite side which casts shadows of an identical set of bars onto the wall (which is transparent).
    What I can’t figure out is why/how can the letters show up in the shadow? They are much clearer than the keys in the foreground!
    And I do believe the hand IS behind the keys. The lighting ‘trick’ is coming from behind the – whatever that white thing is.
    When will the answer be revealed? Are any of us on the right track? I think I am!

    1. …Unless the bars behind the white oval are really close so the letters can be read clearly? Does that make sense-if the white is transparent enough?

  210. The wall that it is attached to isn’t a solid wall. It’s some sort of material that the shadow of another set of type writer keys is being reflect onto this. The light is coming from behind as no light is shining on the hand or keys

  211. why do not you accept my comment? do not want to explain, really, this case is that of misappropriation of image. I expect a response and a responsible attitude of the site.

  212. I’m Joana Corona, let me clarify this story. I am Brazilian, from the south. This is my work, called GRAFO, which means “spell”. The work is an installation that is on display at MON – Museu Oscar Niemeyer, in Curitiba. You do not give credit to the artist and to misappropriate the image and how does João Gratuliano, because work is not his. I will not tell how I did the work, because I think the mystery must remain. I have a blog with entries: joanacorona.wordpress.com. I expect the site to take action in order to explain the situation and give due credit of the work. Otherwise, it is a case that affect the prosecution for copyright. I await a return.

    1. Sorry, Vurdiak, but Joana Corona is right. You are crediting this wonderful artwork , but not in the post where the image is included. This is odd, and technically the copyright violation is still there. I would suggest that you include the name of Joana Corona in the post which I am commenting now.
      Regards.

    2. Abviously it is a shadow casting from the artist huge ego…. sheesh just let us enjoy your work. Na forget it, I don’t like it anymore now. Had a chance to be spectacular, till i lost focus with your giant head in the way.

  213. The “light” is painted on and the “shadows” are left carefuly unpainted t look like shadows. and the letters are the paint too.

  214. the shadow is projected on the wall using an overhead projecter and the the bars are thereto m ake it look like a shadow but really its not its just projected behind it so when he put his hand there his hand didnt have a shadow

  215. Vampires aren’t supposed to out in the sun so they don’t have to worry about it :p that’s my guess

  216. the shadow was painted on using the shadow of the keyboard letters, he then finds a light white board and puts his hand in front of the painting behind the object. understand?

  217. i think that he painted the shadow and put the light at a stange position.so the shadow is not in the pikture! im not COMPLETLY sure about it though.

  218. Haha, I think that there is no real shadow. Actualy, the light is coming from under the camera, and under the hand. The shadow is drawn on the wall.

  219. Look closely at the (light) notice the hard edge. No light that shines on a surface will have a hard edge it will soften. What you are looking at is an opaque glass where the shadow is coming from the other side. Like looking at it through a window.

  220. the light comes from the back of the construction: the shadow you see is from ANOTHER metall what-not and the shadow is reflected against the screen. He could move anything around in front of the screen without shadows to be seen on the screen

  221. dual light comes hand in hand where the true hand is an void and so what is real doesn’t exist.

  222. come on,this pic is funny fake :) letters are facing away from wall,but you can see them on the wall! this is done with photoshop,erased real shadow,one that looks like real one placed in the picture!

  223. just see that light is coming from the same angle where hand is. u ca observe the image is from somewhere else as it is not a shadow of these bars. the farther bar attached to wall etc is much larger than the nearer so its very easy to make such shadow

  224. There is no light on the hand or object so shadow must be from some other object so the shadow is from some other object maybe behind the ‘wall’ which is probably only paper.

  225. the shadows and light are painted on, there is no actual light striking the hand or most of the other thing whatever it is.

  226. You can tell that it is not a picture of a shadow , the light is not a light but maybe paper or something else and the bottom of the black hanging things have letters in them in the “shadow” where as the actual ones do not.

    1. There is another bar being projected from the other side of the Wall/screen. If you look the letter part of the bar is facing away from the wall yet it is still showing up!

  227. I just noticed this… Why isnt the hand and the bars lit up? Why is it so dark? I believe that this is a projection from above/below or its just a painting.

  228. silly! there’s another bar on the other side of the wall same as the bar where the hand is located..and the light is coming on the other side of the wall that’s why you cannot see the shadow of the hand..notice that if you think it’s a shadow of the bar where the hand is located, the letters will come out like an image in the mirror..

    1. I’m starting to believe it’s a painting. Few observations made and are continuations of above:
      1. lighting not hitting hand and front of bars.
      2. if identical bars on other side of walls with projector (shadow puppets), there would be no bar in the first place with straight on lighting.
      3. Above pointer would have to be at an angle in order to get bars at that angle, however if lighting at angle then the letters would be distorted as well or no letters at all.

      Next guesses are:
      1. There is an identical bar on other side with to lighting objects
      2. silhouette from a lighting figure as if bat signal (http://garnetstevens.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/batsignal.jpg)

  229. I’m starting to believe it’s a painting. Few observations made and are continuations of above:
    1. lighting not hitting hand and front of bars.
    2. if identical bars on other side of walls with projector (shadow puppets), there would be no bar in the first place with straight on lighting.
    3. Above pointer would have to be at an angle in order to get bars at that angle, however if lighting at angle then the letters would be distorted as well or no letters at all.

    Next guesses are:
    1. There is an identical bar on other side with two lighting objects
    2. silhouette from a lighting figure as if bat signal (http://garnetstevens.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/batsignal.jpg)

    1. its not a painting… its the shadow of the other bar on the other side of the wall(but its not really a wall, more like a piece of cloth). the light is in the other side of the wall(cloth) that’s why the hand’s shadow does not appear…

  230. I think first painting on the wall as the object look like then then hang the object on the wall then comes hand behind the bars, I think so, what u say?

  231. It has to be painted on the wall ’cause neither the hand nor the structure are illuminated to create a shadow in the first place. Only the wall where’s the “shadow”. And on the bottom part of that “illuminated” oval, I can clearly see that even the “light” is painted. Limited gradient/blend effect.

  232. the light is emitted at the top of the bar and he hand. as you can see the front part of the bar isn’t affected by the light.
    so it is probably what christian says.

  233. a couple of things one if you look at the shadow closely where there are the musical notes looks backwards also it could be light coming down at an angel from the same looking object minus the hand

  234. If you look closely, the hand is painted on the wall/ is a sticker on the wall. If that’s not the reason they could have put the hand in front of the bars.
    Anyway that’s what I think, I’m not sure though.

  235. The light or the hand is off to the left and not directly behind the bars, the camera is to the right creating an optical illusion?

  236. notice the hand is in complete darkness, this leads me to believe there is no actual lighting source, and instead, the shadows and circle of light are painted on the back wall, plus with that thick of keys, light from that angle would cause the keys to look solid.

  237. Because of the angle of the camera and how the picture is taken, the hand is not actually behind the object. It is in fact “beside” and the camera is at such an angle to make it look like the bars cover the hand. With the light being shown, the hand is not hit therefor casts no shadow.

    1. I 100% agree with Tritt, this is the only way to make the illusion, the angle of camera and lighting, So.. no ghost hand actually…

  238. I think that the paint or colored in the wall to make it look like a shadow. To make it look as if you cant see the hand’s shadow.

  239. its a white sheet and the bars are placed in between, light is on the other side of the sheet and creating shadow

  240. i think that the shadow isn’t a shadow at all.I think because the is letters on the shadow,and there is no holes at the circles just a guess.

  241. The light is coming from behind the wall where the same bar is located as the one shown in the picture. So the shadow is not coming from the the bar we see, but from the bar located on the other side. :)

  242. I think that the shadow is painted because if it really was a light that was making the shadow the hand and bars would be lit up

  243. The angle of the camera. The hand is to the left and not really behind the object. It seems to be behind it because of the angle the picture was taken. Just a guess.

  244. It’s not painting, but here’s what I came up.

    1. Two hints, are the holes within the round shadowed thingies and the wrapped shadow like wires to hold to wires in place.

    2. Now those done, the shadowed fingers are actually striaght wires. You can see that the shadowed wires are wrapped around to hold the wires in place.

    3. The light source must be coming from on top or at an angel on top, so the wires that casted the shadows are on top of the hand and those finger hangers.

    Let me know what you think.

  245. hands is not showing since lightning is coming at the other side of the wall which has an identical bars. notice that shadows of bars has letters appearing hen the one shown with a hand doesnt show any letters at all. thats why hands is not
    showing on the shadows.

  246. you also see in there that letters on bars with the hand is not identical with bars on shadows (4th bar:Letter L on shadow:Letter:E). also notice that bars with hands dont have any lightning at all.

  247. its probably that the wall is two colors and there is no real light and shadow. the “shadow” is probably some kind of artwork.

  248. i think he used a light from up and down ,so there will not be any shadow and the actually shadow is painted

  249. the wall is painted to look like a shadow and he just added a light that doesnt even pass through the object and his hand there for the shadow on the wall is fake. (you can tell by the way the light is pointed and the way the shadow is hitting the wall)

  250. Wait! The letters spell “GRAFO”. That could be short for a word giving the solution… Don’t blame me if I’m wrong! I’m only 11!

  251. More then 2 light sources focusing on object.
    Placement of camera lens opposite to the direction of light source.
    Hand is far from the object, just creating illusion by setting up the lens.

  252. I agree with Anu’s last post..if you look to the left of pic..you see a silhouette of the arm..and possibly the lower half of the torso of person..(probably not) but it seems feasible to me..so I am sticking with it..lol..have fun :)

  253. Actually, his hand isn’t actually behind the bars. the bars are illuminated by a bright spotlight, but his hand isn’t. Therefore, his hand is actually inside the shadow to the left of the bars. This is why you don’t see a shadow.

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