#1 Family Photos
This is almost a family vacation classic. Why almost? Look at the woman's face. Where's the fear? An unscrupulous giant is trying to trap her inside of his sand pail. And all she's wearing is a bikini. Someone get this amateur some acting lessons.
#2 The Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower hasn't had a makeover. Those are cleverly placed Legos. This photo is by Michael Hughes. Mr. Hughes is credited with getting the internet interested in trompe l'oeil. That's a French word for an art technique that tricks the eye into seeing what isn't there.
Have you seen the chalk optical illusions drawn on public streets? You've probably seen Michael's work. In 2005, Michael added trick photography to his impressive repertoire. That's around the time that this picture went viral.
#3 Thirsty
This is not a photo of tiny people. They're just super far away. And these desert-dwellers only wish this was a giant bottle of water. It's just really close to the lens.
Once everyone was in place, the photographer just lined them up. There was probably a lot of "a little to the left -- no, your left" going on. But this awesome photo is totally worth it.
#4 Mind = Blown
Forced perspective isn't just for still images. This forced perspective gif has been viral for a while. It's mesmerizing. People have lost full minutes staring at this. What exactly is going on?
It's not trick photography. It's all forced perspective. It's from the YouTube channel Quirkology. It's full of amazing optical illusions like this.
#5 Sun Ball
You can do really beautiful things with forced perspective. This photograph is by photographer Waleed Almotar. There's more than just camera tricks going on here. The photo also plays with light.
The subject is in silhouette. The warm dusk light in the background is in stark contrast. Together they create an image that's almost surreal. It's like a game of soccer among the gods.
#6 Movie Magic
The Lord of the Rings used a lot of forced perspective. They made the hobbits look small by positioning them further away from the other characters. This photographer has accomplished something similar here.
When the camera is at one angle, the seated woman looks very small. Then the camera shifts. It's really a normal-sized woman seated further away. The Lord of the Rings wasn't the only movie to use this trick. Harry Potter employed the same technique to make Hagrid look like a giant.
#7 Vintage Photography
This photo was taken in the 1930's. The subject is Flickr user John Robinson's uncle. John posted this picture in October 2006. It's one of the images that sparked the internet's interest in forced perspective. Today it's a runaway meme.
There are thousands of photos out there already. More are uploaded every day. You've got to be pretty creative if you want your image to go viral.
