19 Deceptive Photos That Are More Like Optical Illusions

We love a proper optical illusion. The best optical illusion photos are the ones that were taken with no initial intention to actually trip people out. Yet, you end up with these mystifying images that seem like they were taken from some kind of upside down world altogether. These optical illusion photos will definitely take your brain for a nice little spin. Consider yourself warned.

1. “The 4 balls are of the same color.”

“Very cool. Tested in Photoshop with the eyedropper tool and they are in fact the same color. Sorry for all the hate OP, it’s a great illusion.” – u/Legs27

“I keep telling my doctor that but he still says there shouldn’t be four of them.” – u/RugbyEdd

2. “These aren’t spirals.”

“Impressive, have to trace them out to see that they’re not spirals.” – u/nygdan

“Insane. At 1st first look I was very convinced they totally were. My brain fails me once again.” – u/Additional-Neck6303

3. “What color do you see? White and gold or black and blue?”

“It’s clearly sky blue and sandy brown.” – u/chimpdoctor

“Green and red.” – u/BigBaws92

4. “Can’t believe I never noticed this.”

“I can’t unsee it now.” – u/projectfoxx

“Whoa.” – u/mumchkin

Just in case you’re still confused. It turns out that the diamonds form an 8 in the middle. Your day just peaked.

5. “At first you see a rock floating in the air and then.”

“I think it’s a rock in a river. The bottom darker part is the reflection.” – u/bernarcisico

Do not fret. You’re not alone at all if this one took you a second to fully figure out.

6. “The color of the center square of these 2 cubes is the same.”

“This one is really strong. I actually couldn’t believe it until I checked. RGB is 158,158,158. A light gray for both.” – u/Potato_Stains

“This one’s crazy. I used color picker and drew a thick line to connect the two squares. It literally looks like the line changes color crossing from blue to white to yellow; it took covering the context up to see that it’s clearly one color.” – u/SusHistoryCuzWriter

7. “These are all straight lines.”

“This is a good one.” – u/_kiaza_

“The center is the only square with its edges having the same lines. This creates illusion that it’s the only “correct” square. Then we see alternating pairs horizontal and vertical to the center, they become slanted because they’re “less correct” than the center. The rest are all alternating but not diagonally, which creates a 3D effect as if they’re in the background and protruding forward at the center being the “correct” square.” – u/Mareotori

8. “Go ahead, find the curved line.”

“This is impressive and frustrating at the same time. Everywhere I look I see curved lines in my peripherals. But when I focus on them it’s straight lines everywhere. I see curves but can never find them.” – u/SebboGaming

“As soon as you see the grey lines in the houses, it ruins it.” – u/Parking-Position-698

9. “Can you spot these?”

“I spotted on the left, a wolf, a deer below that and a buffalo below that. On the right, a cougar and a bear below that. In the sky, a woman with an eagle flying above her and at the very bottom what appears to be an eagle head, but is that supposed to be the beaver?” – u/BEE-RANDON

10. “Crazy ship.”

“Oh my god I’ve never been able to see how the lines are actually effective until now.” – u/sirfryingpan123

“Nowadays it’s not so effective but through a periscope being off by 500 meters matters.– u/potatostains

11. “Some say it’s pink and white, and some say it’s green and grey.”

“It started off green and grey and slowly turned pink and now I can’t get it to go back.” – u/redsmallboy

“Mine has weird green spots on the toe?” – u/deleted

12. “Chromostereopic illusion. I see red on top and blue in the background.”

“This type of illusion is interesting as I’ve learned not everyone experiences it. For many people the image is just the 2D image as presented. But for others like myself, the image is 3D where red and blue (or other strongly contrasting colors) have different depths. I’ve found anecdotally the illusion is more likely to be visible to people with glasses or astigmatism.” – u/deleted

13. “This one photo.”

“That brownish looking thing, is actually a retaining wall and a reflection in the water.” – MyWitchDr

“People are talking about a reflection. I don’t see the reflection, I don’t see a reason for the blue to yellow color change. I’m all lost.” – u/PositiveAnybody2005

14. “There’s actually no red in this picture.”

“If you zoom on the picture, you will see that it is actually just black and white pixels. What’s funny is that once I saw that and zoomed out, I could not see the red anymore, just black and white mixes.” – u/PurpleMatterX111

“Your brain tries to color correct the blue back to white by adding red to the image, so you’re basically hallucinating that the white is red.” – u/Blursed-Penguin

15. “Can someone tell me what I’m seeing?”

“Open steps, no backings.” – u/Lost_Minds_Think

“You’re looking up at the ceiling of the first floor of a three-story house. The second floor has stairs that are semi floating/have no backing. The cat is on the floor of the second story looking down at the first floor.” – u/deleted

16. “Trippy view of Radisson Hotel in Niagara Falls.”

“This makes me viscerally uncomfortable.” – u/deleted

“Looks cozy, but you have to walk sideways.” – u/teink0

17. “The middle square on the top is the same color as the middle square on the side.”

“Dude, this one got me good. I did color picker on my phone and both were the same color. I didn’t believe it.” – u/baldorrr

“Your eyes tell the difference between colors by what’s next to them. One thing I still remember from basic art class/color theory.” -u/rg4rg

18. “Up or down?”

“Down, based on the nosing of the stairs.” u/eyehate

“Down because cat anatomy. Don’t need to balance with tail on an upward climb that’s stable, but do on a down going quickly to avoid falling.” – u/possiblelifeform889

19. “These are the same photo, side by side.”

“Curb and road look they are shot from a different angle, but they are the same.” – u/YellowTintedGlasses

It’s truly remarkable what a little bit of tactical angle maneuvering can accomplish when it comes to creating a dizzying optical illusion.