It’s no secret that our minds often play tricks on us. Just take a look at our previous post on optical illusions that almost gave people a heart attack and browse through this list of optical illusions in everyday things that left people seriously confused.
But this time we are looking at a peculiar case of optical illusions that were created by shadows. Think of random shadows created by both inanimate and animate objects like windows, birds, trees and people.
And when you capture them at the right time in the right place (or rather, at a very random time and in a totally accidental place) you may come up with some very interesting results. Get ready to have your head spin, and be sure to upvote your favorite pics as you scroll through this list by Bored Panda!
This post may include affiliate links.
Shadows Cast From A Tree During An Eclipse
A Rare Optic Sight, The "Brocken Spectre," Occurs When A Person Stands At A Higher Altitude In The Mountains And Sees His Shadow Cast On A Cloud At A Lower Altitude
Even The Shadows In Scotland Are Plaid
Previously we spoke with Lisa Yaszek, a Regents Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech, where she researches and teaches science fiction as a global language crossing centuries, continents, and cultures, who explained our never-ending fascination with optical illusions.
According to the professor, there is something inherently pleasing about the ability to perceive an image in different ways and it’s “part of our natural aptitude for learning.”
This Unicorn Shadow
The Way These Shadows Line Up With The Windows
The Way The Light Shines Through The Bookcase Making A Cityscape Shadow
That is so genius, I'm thinking it is done on purpose! Does anyone know where this is?
It doesn’t matter the source or the nature of the illusion, each one has captivated us since the dawn of time. “Whatever the source of our love for optical illusions, it’s fascinating to note that the desire to create optical illusions seems to be as old as humanity itself."
Historical examples of optical illusions can be found with the work of the prehistoric artists who decorated the Cave of Altima 20,000 years ago. “They used the natural bulges in the rock walls of the cave to give volume and depth to the animals they drew there; the Greek-Egyptian inventor Heron of Alexandria (10CE–70AD) engineered a device that made it look like priests could open temple doors with verbal commands; and the Airavatesvara Temple in India is covered in 800+-year-old carvings of animals that change species when viewed from different angles.”
This Shadow From Two Different Trees In My Parking Lot
Crumpled Paper Shadow Faces
Shadow And Slope Makes It Look Like He’s Floating
Our renewed fascination with optical illusions is nothing surprising, says Lisa, because whenever people invent new creative or technical processes, they use them to create optical illusions. “Indeed, we’ve seen this throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: pioneering filmmakers like George Melies drew on vaudeville stagecraft and scratched and painted on celluloid to create the first filmic special effects; Op artists Josef Albers and Bridgette Riley manipulated geometric forms on canvas to convince the eye that unreal spatial places existed,” she explained.
Today, we use digital technologies that allow us to radically transform the scale and presentation of images in sometimes truly mind-blowing ways, while other times it’s nature that plays tricks on us!
The Shadow On The Stairs Looks Like Another Set Of Stairs
This Shadow That Perfectly Lined Up With The Light Pole
The Horses Were Standing So Still That Their Shadows Still Have Frost
Spider Floating On Water Made A Unique Shadow
A Long Boi With A Shadow Of A Mandog
Shadow Cast By My Light Looks Like The Gingerbread Man Hanged Himself
A Tree's Shadow Stopped The Snow Underneath It From Melting
This Restaurant Uses Shadows To Show Men And Women Restrooms
Baby Deer Chilling On A Chair
Bambi found himself a lovely Chihuahua of a wife this is their oldest child cambi
The Shadow From A Rivet Makes It Look Like Sacajawea's Smoking A Blunt
The Way The Shadows Look Between My Coffee Mugs
The Shadows From These Window Cages Create A 3D Effect
Shadow Looks Like Painting
The Shadow Of My Chimney Makes Me Look Like Lord Farquad
Lahaina Noon In Hawaii Right Now - The Sun Passes Directly Overhead, So Anything That Isn't Top-Heavy Doesn't Cast A Shadow
Shadows Of Birds Perched Atop A Tent
The Personless Shadow
The person right in front of the shadow, with the black shorts with green stripes, seems to be jumping. Hence the shadow not touching the ground.
Only 3 Spiral Ornaments And The Rest Are The Shadows They Cast
I Found The Shadow From My Sculpture More Interesting Than The Sculpture
I Genuinely Thought My Car Was Hovering Over The Parking. The Shadow Makes It Look Like It's Floating
This Glass Casts A Spooky Shadow
Around 2pm Every Sunny Day, There's A 1 Shadow On My Floor
The Shadow Of This Decoration Piece Makes A Horror Movie Villain
The Shadows Formed On This Bench Are A Perfect Greyscale
This Shadow From My Axis Am Allies Game
The Clouds Shadows Make It Look Like They're Floating Islands
An Actual Full Rainbow And The Shadow Of My Plane
K-Pop Shadow Is Coming For You
The Shadow Left The Snow On The Roof Untouched
Shadow Cast By My Lamp Looks Like A Happy Spider With A Ball
Straight Ladder Has A Crooked Shadow
My Jeans' Shadow Looks Like A Face
The Shadow Of My Bookshelf Looks Like A City Skyline
This Fuel Filler Cap's Shadow Looks Like Batman
This Dog Shadow Looks Like Donald Trump
When You're Darth Vader At Heart
The Shadow From The Bull's Head Making It Look Like It Has A Chicken's Body
Changing My Friend's Car Radio When I Noticed This. The Shadow Looks Like An Alien Language
It looks like Aurebesh. Ten points to anyone who knows what fictional universe Aurebesh is from. :)
The Shadow Of This Bench Looks Like Pixels In This Picture I Took
My Country Is So Poor It Even Has Low Quality Shadows
Shadow Of The Hair On The Forehead Looks Like A Bump
There was a little girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good she was very very good, and when she was bad she was horrid. A nursery rhyme I knew growing up (it rhymes the way I say forehead Lol, perhaps not a rhyme depending on your accent!)
Note: this post originally had 108 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
Shadows are accidental free art - except when they're on purpose. Or not free.
Humans are reliant on shadows; it helps us perceive things. As an example, please see the attached Optical illusion. Untitled-6...722892.jpg 
This is one great thing about cellphones. People always have a camera handy for serendipity like the coffee mugs and others.
Shadows are accidental free art - except when they're on purpose. Or not free.
Humans are reliant on shadows; it helps us perceive things. As an example, please see the attached Optical illusion. Untitled-6...722892.jpg
This is one great thing about cellphones. People always have a camera handy for serendipity like the coffee mugs and others.
