DARK SECRETS: Confusing perspectives pictures | Rare Historical Photos

Perspective really is everything in photography (well, alongside lighting, of course).

"The angle of vantage for the photographer can really change an image," photographer Dominic told Bored Panda that changing the perspective can completely change what the photo makes the audience feel.

"It all depends on what you're going for. It's best to play around and try different things to see what looks best and what works best depending on your subject," he urged other photographers, veteran and amateur alike, to experiment and play around with different angles.

Bored Panda wanted to get Dominic's opinion on what photographers ought to do if they've got a project in mind and they're experimenting with perspective techniques they've never tried before. He told us that focus is key here.

"Make sure to not lose sight of what you're trying to achieve in your image," he told us. "Have a clear goal in mind with what you're trying to convey."

Meanwhile, photographer Dominic shared some of his thoughts on how to avoid creating confusing perspectives by accident and, instead, create the desired effect.

"Follow the rules of composition and don't make things too small. I have photos of rock climbers at a national park in Nevada, where I personally feel the overall perspective is a bit lost," he said that every professional has some pictures that they now see could have used a bit more work or a few more snaps.

"Make sure the audience is able to understand what it is they're supposed to be seeing and comparing the perspective to the surroundings at hand," he said.

The ‘Confusing Perspectives’ subreddit recently celebrated its 8th birthday. Around since the ancient era of 2014, the community has grown absolutely massive thanks to the friendly members, competent moderators, as well as the interesting angle (pun totally intended) of the pictures themselves.

Weirdness fascinates us. And in a world where visual media is king, pictures that get us to do a double-take don’t just stand out from the crowd. They go viral. Visual puzzles are fun to figure out, and they make us consider how we could repeat the same effects.

Obviously, a lot of you Pandas are bound to follow r/confusing_perspective after looking through this list. However, there are some rules that you have to be aware of if you want to be a productive member of their community.

First of all (and not surprisingly), the content has to be on point. The goal of the sub is to feature photos and videos with confusing perspectives. So that’s what you should post. Memes, cartoons, sketches, and anything that’s been modified “to deceive the viewer” will end up removed by the mod team. Low-quality images and screenshots of other Reddit posts are also a no-go.

Meanwhile, make sure that the title of your post is accurate and descriptive. Try not to mislead other redditors. The titles have to be factually correct and can’t be low-effort. In short, avoid clickbait.

Even if you stumble upon an amazing pic that you think would be perfect for ‘Confusing Perspectives,’ don’t just rush off and post it. Take some time to do a bit of research: check if someone else from the community hasn’t already shared that particular pic recently. The sub shares info in the sidebar on how you can quickly check for reposts.

Instances of pareidolia, the totally awesome phenomenon where we see faces and familiar shapes everywhere we look, is a bit of a grey area. Sometimes, the mods allow pareidolia-related content if it involved forced perspective (a bit on that below). However, as a rule of thumb, pareidolia pics should be posted on r/Pareidolia.

Forced perspective is a technique that helps photographers create optical illusions by playing around with the size of objects. Pros can change the angle of the pic and make certain people or objects appear larger or smaller than they actually are. This way, they manipulate our perspective and create a lot of fun content. Yup, ‘holding’ the Eiffel Tower or the Tower of Pisa in your hand are two examples of this.

And last of all, the team running the sub asks all members to be civil towards each other. That means no hate, political discussions, or creepy compliments. There’s no tolerance for intolerance in the group.

Some of the photos shared on r/confusing_perspective are downright spooky. It almost feels like we’ve stepped into The Twilight Zone (or accidentally proved the existence of The Matrix… or both!).

A while back, Bored Panda spoke with Doug Murano about why people love weird content and have such a fascination with the supernatural. Doug is an award-winning editor and writer, and knows why mystery, horror, and strangeness are such huge hits.

"I suspect that most of us—regardless of our spiritual beliefs—have a longing for something beyond this life. Human beings seem to be pre-programmed with this urge," he shared with Bored Panda.

"My professional expertise is limited to fiction, but I'll say this: I've seen enough real magic and wonder in the world to make me think twice about whether the supernatural is real—and I think that's a healthy thing. It's perhaps less important to believe any given tale than it is to remain open to experiences while leaving room in your head and in your heart for belief."

Meanwhile, let’s circle back a bit to pareidolia. Previously, Bored Panda spoke about the phenomenon with Professor Kang Lee, from the University of Toronto.

"Pareidolia illustrates the interaction between the visual cortex and the frontal cortex of the human brain. It suggests that our brain is highly sensitive and expecting to encounter and process some special classes of objects in our environment because they are biological and socially important to our adaptions to the environment," he said.

"For example, when you are walking in a dark street in the evening, your brain is on high alert to detect whether any threat will jump out any moment. In this case, you are more likely to have face or human pareidolia because it is important for you to err on the side of caution if you mistake a tree as a human being,” the professor explained to Bored Panda.

“For some people, their frontal cortex’s expectation for certain objects (e.g., faces) become so high that they see faces in many situations where no faces exist. Even in this kind of situation, it is normal. There is nothing wrong with these individuals," he said.

"Pareidolia is different from paranoia or delusion or abnormal vision of individuals with psychosis. In fact, a recent study shows that those people with pareidolia tend to be more creative. Also, people who are religious may be able to see religious icons in non face objects as well."

According to the professor, our imaginations (centered in our frontal cortex) greatly affect our perception (based in the visual cortex, in the occipital lobe). Pareidolia, according to Professor Lee, proves that "what we see are not things over there in the world but actually the co-creation of what is out there physically and what is in our mind mentally through our expectations and imaginations."

"Pareidolia is a broader phenomenon as it extends to touch and sound and other sensory channels. For example, you sometimes sense your phone vibrating when it is not, it is a tactile form of pareidolia. When you hear voices in a noisy environment, it is an auditory form of pareidolia."