Richard Stoltzman’s “Visions” Illusion

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.

117 Replies to “Richard Stoltzman’s “Visions” Illusion”

  1. 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”.

  2. 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”.

  3. Benjamin Franklin, I think. Great illusion i love how the artist uses the rock exposed to the sunlight ans the persons hair.

  4. HAHA ! Sloppy 2nd ! : P

    Love the illusion !!!!

    Hey…good luck with the senders address info!

    and to the sender …don’t be so suspect !

  5. 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.

  6. 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…

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. It looks like Ben Franklin!!! The lighter side of the cliff (right next to the face) is his hair!!! Does anyone else see it???

  11. This is really cool! I’m sorry, I have to do this It’s my first time ever: Second!!!! Anyway, thans for posting.

  12. 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.

  13. 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?

  14. 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

  15. 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.

  16. 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…

  17. 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!

  18. 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

  19. 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.

  20. There are a number of faces. The obvious one formed from the opening in the cliff face with the bird as eye, on the rock opposite that face’s mouth and chin is the face of a bearded man: looks like a Highlander or a turbaned Indian: to teh left and lower, right beside the bearded man’s shoulder, there is the top half of a face (more Italian looking): dark hair, eyes, strong nose and perhaps a moustache. Above the Highlander face is a rather demonic looking face/mask and above that, at the top of the underside of the arch, what looks to me like a mother or culd be Christ with child held, affectionaltely, close. I think I am seeing faces in teh highlights of teh rock but this couild be merely like those one sees in nature/patterns anyway: like a host of folk to teh left of the left hand side of the arch: almost likelooking into a throng of spectators or into a busy street: the people are not relating to each other. Much the same on the rock at right hand side of the arch.

  21. That email address belongs to a temporary account that was create using mailinator which is a website that lets you enter your email address to sign up for things and then creates temporary inboxes every time you get a message so that your inbox is never full of Spam. Here is the web address http://www.mailinator.com/

  22. It’s a woman who is lying on top of an Indian who is lying on top of Ben Franklin who has a seagull stuck in his eye.

  23. i can 2 images. first a face hidden in the shape of the gap

    2n d a woman falling over backwards

  24. Wow! After looking at the second hint, i immediately saw this one! Awesome work. Also good luck deciphering the email address!!

  25. why dont you just google it dude?
    seriously…whats with the stubborness?
    do you want readers or not?
    i mean, i like this blog and ive read every entry for over a year, but come on man, dont be so lazy!

    1. dude in case you-whazizname- havent noticed there are a bunch of faces in the picture one in the gap with bird then one above it and to the right and others beside those faces. there are a bunch of faces

  26. Great stuff!

    Does anyone else see a horned face on the back of the indian’s head?

    And where’s the top face?

  27. My sister was a huge fan of Stoltzman, he’s like Kenny G, but with a clarinet instead of a saxophone, and it’s classical music, not smooth jazz.

    Now that I think about it, I could have said he’s like Gene Simmons except without the bass and makeup, but with an orchestra instead of KISS LOL

  28. This is cool like a bird for the eye of the Native American, add the Indian has the sprit of the an Eagle, free brave adn strong.

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