An optical illusion certainly requires more than a single look to get the whole picture.
Optical illusions have a way of hooking a person's interest and keeping it until the answer comes to them. However, not everyone sees the same illusion the same way, as evidenced by the blue-black or white-gold dress debacle that had netizens swarming to share their opinions. And now, there's another one that has elicited a similar response.
It's an image that showed what appeared to be a long line of girls sitting alongside each other with their heads turned in different directions. Taken by and shared on Instagram by Swiss photographer Tiziana Vergari in 2016, it's still making the rounds and confounding people as to how many girls are in the photo, reported Express UK. Given the mirror that is in play in the image, it comes as no surprise that viewers are finding it difficult to come to a concrete answer.
However, that hasn't stopped them and the general consensus is that the number of girls in the photo ranges from anywhere between two to 14. Vergari had submitted the photo as part of an Instagram weekend hashtag project, captioning the image, "Same but different | My entry #whpidentity for Instagram." With it having gone viral and garnering more than 23,000 likes, it managed to get nominated for "Instagram Photo of the Year," before actually winning it, according to Simplemost.
So of course the photo also found its way onto Reddit where users took a stab at the answer while discussing their reasoning for it as well. To many of them, the obvious answer was two. One user reasoned, "Of course, there are two live girls and two mirrors, ( one photographer, and a clown in the other room, that can not be seen. ) And no one is going to argue the philosophical point that the question vaguely asked: 'How many girls are in this picture?' Not: How many Real living girls are in the picture, and how many are reflected images? Reddit members are way too smart. I am starting to feel bad. This was a test about perception. Some have argued that the '5th' girl L to R could not be the same as the first because of the eyes. It is the angles, of course."
Another user said, "There's four. Look closely...look closer....2 sets of twins (or girls that look very similar) and a mirror....very nicely done photograph," with another agreeing, saying, "I should mention the slight difference in hair from the first girl to the 4th/5th reflection. Not to mention the darkness around the eyes. Also, first has a longer face while the other has a shorter, less sharp jawline."
However, as much fun as Redditors may have had trying to get the right answer, the photographer confirmed that there were just two girls, and that both were his daughters. Of course, that could just to make us think we've got the right answer. Regardless, it's images and debates like this that never fails to engage and enamor the mind.
References:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/653487/How-many-girls-are-there-in-this-photo-Optical-illusion
