45 Strange Photos That Need More Than A Quick Glance
By Larissa C
Sometimes, we need to look at things twice before we actually understand what’s going on. If you browse the internet for a few minutes, you’ll probably come across images that will demand your attention, or else you’ll miss hilarious and even uncanny details. Some of these images are intriguing, but some of these pictures are simply hilarious. While not all of them have hidden details that will blow your mind, most of these pictures will make you want to look at them for a few seconds before moving on to the next image. If you’re in need of a good laugh or exercising your brain for a little bit, look no further! We’ve compiled 45 images that you’ll need to look at twice in order to understand what’s going on!
Somebody save this poor man!
When we love someone, we can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives with them. Getting married to that person is the thought that crosses our minds most often, but that’s only when we’re in love. And this guy was either not in love or just being a big-time prankster!
If you take a quick glance at this picture, you probably won’t notice anything unusual. It looks just like another perfectly normal wedding ceremony, but if you look twice, you’ll see that this picture is hilarious. Take a look at the groom’s shoes,, and you’ll understand what we mean. He’s asking for help — though we hope he’s only joking!
How am I supposed to fit that in there?
Puzzles are the perfect pastime for those who are patient enough to finish them. In order to complete a puzzle, you have to dedicate quite a lot of time and mental effort, especially depending on the number of puzzle pieces you’re working with.
Imagine that you spent hours trying to complete a puzzle, and then you can’t finish it because you have two identical pieces? Well, that’s exactly what happened to this person. If you look at this image twice, you’ll see that their puzzle has two identical pieces and, because of that, they can’t complete it!
Lego blocks?
Some people mistake this area for that scene in Edward Scissorhands for the town where he grew up. Or, maybe it reminds you of Truman from The Truman Show, where every house is arranged perfectly like a series of porcelain dolls on a shelf. It looks almost too perfect. It can’t be real, right? Well, that’s where you’re mistaken because this is an actual place.
While you may think that these are a bunch of lego blocks, that’s not the case at all. In this picture, we actually see a residential community in Mexico. This housing complex may look like it’s a bunch of tiny dollhouses, but this is a real place!
Can you spot what’s different in this picture?
Even though we use our hands for most things in our daily routine, we don’t pay much attention to them. If you look at your hands right now, you’ll see the little creases you have on your palms and your fingers.
Those creases are meant to help our hand movements. They’re there to help our skin when we’re flexing or curling our palms and fingers. If you take a second look at the picture above, you’ll notice that there’s something odd about this guy’s hand. Can you spot what it is? If not, we’ll help you: this guy’s fingers don’t have creases! Isn’t that amazing?
Why do I feel like I’m being watched?
Sometimes, when we look at things quickly, we may see things that aren’t there. If we’re young and scared of the dark, we end up seeing things that could possibly haunt us — but we all know they’re not really there.
However, if you take a close look at this picture, you’ll see a face in there somewhere. While you may think that it’s only your mind playing tricks on you, the face is actually there. How did it end up there? We have no idea, but we’re certain that once you see the face in this image, you won’t be able to unsee it!
Are you sure this is the school for you?
In this next picture, you’ll really need to look twice to understand what’s going on. At first glance, you’ll probably only see a regular classroom with college students paying attention to the lecture they’re watching. However, if you look closely, you’ll see that there’s a student that should not be there!
It may take you a while to find this unusual student amid so many students in the lecture room, but you’ll certainly find him at some point. Yep, there’s a dog in the classroom! And the most interesting fact about this photo is that the dog looks like it is paying attention to the lecture — what an exemplar student!
Maybe you should have checked the picture before posting!
Sometimes, we post pictures without checking them first. While that’s not necessarily a problem, sometimes we could save ourselves the embarrassment of posting weird pictures — if only we had checked them first! This woman probably forgot to double-check her photo before she posted it on her social media pages.
If you’re distracted by her face or her tattoo, you probably won’t notice what’s unusual about this picture. We encourage you to take a second look and observe the whole setting. Do you see what’s happening here? Yes, that’s correct — her dog is drinking water from the toilet!
You won’t be able to unsee it!
Our brain is incredibly interesting. We all know that already. One of the amazing things that our brain does is make us see faces in everyday objects, even when it’s clear that there’s not actually a face in them. A woman, for instance, saw the Virgin Mary in a sandwich!
According to science, there’s a name for that phenomenon, and it’s pareidolia. We see faces in objects due to past experiences and the effects that light and shadows have on our eyes. For instance, if you look at these vases, you probably won’t notice what’s unusual about them. However, if we tell you that you can see female figures in the gaps between each vase, you’ll see them clearly. You won’t be able to “unsee” them!
Did you think you would fool me?
Who doesn’t dream of renovating their house? Even if we lived in a mansion, we would probably always think of changing things around to make it interesting. However, renovating a house can be quite stressful, especially if you don’t hire reliable workers.
That’s what happened to this family — they hired unreliable people to renovate their home. If you look at this picture from a distance, you probably won’t notice what’s different. However, when you take a close look at it, it’s pretty obvious that this brick is not actually a brick. The workers who were fixing up this house thought that cementing a wooden block to the wall would go unnoticed!
My eyes deceive me!
Optical illusions make us see things that are literally impossible to exist. Or sometimes, they make us see something but a person standing next to us may see something else entirely different from what we saw. But some optical illusions just make our brains crash on the spot!
This particular image is the perfect example of an optical illusion that will make your brain stop working for a second. If you just take a glance at it, you may think that this woman has three legs. However, if you take another look at it, you’ll see that she’s actually holding on to a vase instead of having an extra limb!
How can you say that’s a bear?
The reason why we sometimes end up taking a second look at things can vary. Maybe you look at something twice because you saw something that wasn’t supposed to be there. Sometimes it’s because you can’t quite tell what’s wrong, so you look at something until you can spot the difference.
However, sometimes we look at things twice because we can’t believe our eyes. This woman, for instance, wanted to buy a bear keychain. The online store that sold this key chain advertised it as a bear, but when the product arrived at her home, she saw that it looked like a frog instead!
That has got to be an onion!
Living in the 21st century means that we’re in a rush more often than not. The pace of most things is absolutely fast nowadays, and because life is so frantic, we may get too busy to feel the amazement of seeing simple yet incredible things.
Looking at pictures of garlic cloves, for instance, may sound too mundane and simple. However, we sometimes find amazing sightings in the simplest things, like this garlic in the picture. If you take a quick look at it, you may even think that that’s an onion — but if you look twice, you’ll be amazed to see that it’s a garlic clove!
Not creepy at all!
Our wedding day is meant to be one of the happiest days of our lives, and we want to have beautiful memories from this day. That is why we take pictures during this day and keep them for as long as the relationship lasts.
This woman will certainly remember her wedding day — though not all memories will be perfect. Every time she looks at this photo, she will be reminded of something kind of creepy. If you don’t get what we mean, we invite you to take a second look at the photo. See the dude standing behind that tree in the background? That’s what we mean by creepy!
My brain just stopped working!
This next picture is certainly worth the title of “photo you need to look at twice.” Scratch that — you’ll probably have to look at this photo a bunch of times before you finally understand what’s happening and why this picture is unusual.
Personally, we had to look at the picture a dozen different times until we got it. When you look at it, you’ll probably see 6 different purple stripes. What if we told you that there are actually only 3 stripes in this picture? We see double the amount of stripes because of the light reflecting on the glass stripes! Amazing, right?
Oh, hey, aliens!
Back in July 2021, the Pentagon released a long-awaited report on UFO sightings. Millions of people were excited to see if their theories of extraterrestrial life were real. After all, who hasn’t seen something unusual in the sky at least once in their life?
The person who took this photo didn’t actually see a UFO in the sky — or did they? If you take a quick glance at this picture, you’ll think that you saw a flying saucer. If you look at it again, you’ll keep thinking that. That’s because that big cloud looks exactly like a spaceship!
No effects!
We live in the age of technology, the age of social media, and also the age of filters and effects. If you have an Instagram account, you know exactly what we’re talking about. It’s rare to see people posting unedited photos.
When you looked at the photo above, we’re certain that you thought this was a filter. Well, we’re here to tell you that there are no filters being used in the image! What’s causing these green and red lighting effects is the faucet — if you look closely, you’ll see that there’s a LED light in it!
Imagine touching that thing!
When we think of the word “cactus,” we think of those green plants that usually grow in dry regions. If you live in a place that has hot weather, you’ve probably seen cactuses, and you have an idea of what they look like.
But have you ever seen a cactus this big? It’s scary to even think that such a thing exists! We certainly did a double-take when we first saw this photo. So many questions are swirling in our heads — we would love to know how did this plant grow so big!
It’s all about perspective!
Optical illusions are incredible because they allow us to better understand our brain and its abilities. As we mentioned before, once you see something in a certain way, it’s fairly hard to start seeing it differently — and this next optical illusion will prove that!
There are two types of people in this world: those who will look at this photo and see just another regular elephant, and there are those who will see this picture and see something unusual in it. If you just saw an elephant, take another look at this image — we can see the perfect outline of a face on the elephant’s ear!
Nappy Hair or Something Else?
This next picture is certainly going to give you the creeps. Because we want you to look at it attentively, we’re not going to spoil what’s going on, nor are we going to give you any tips. All we have to say is: look closely!
Maybe you’ll have to look twice at this picture, or maybe even more times until you get what’s different here. Hopefully, you’re not afraid of spiders — because that’s exactly what’s on top of that girl’s head! She looks so calm that you wouldn’t think she has a huge tarantula chilling in her hair.
A new discovery?
We live in such an advanced and developed society that it’s kind of hard to believe that there are still many things to be discovered. Who knows what type of animals are yet to be found? Or what types of plants and fruits?
This photo looks so unusual that we have to look at it twice to understand it. It looks like this person discovered a new fruit, doesn’t it? Well, that’s not it. These two lemons grew from the same tree — though it’s hard to tell what happened to make them look so different!
Am I seeing things?
If we stop to think about it, we’ll notice that traffic conventions are similar in different countries. That is, stop signs, traffic lights, and other conventions are the same across the world — even the colors are the same.
Now, imagine you’re driving down the street and see a blue stop sign. Yes, the stop sign in this photo is real and not photoshopped! Apparently, private properties can’t have red stop signs in Hawaii, and that’s why we see this unusual blue sign.
Now that’s talent!
Do you have any talents? We’re sure you do. While we usually associate talent with big artistic things, like being a talented painter, it’s possible to have subtle talents. Maybe you’re not the best singer, but you can do something that not everyone can.
This woman in the picture, for instance, has a talent that is not associated with the arts, but it’s a talent nonetheless. She is able to walk on metal platforms while wearing high heels — and she doesn’t fall in the process! Take a close look at the way her heel is touching just the tip of the metal bar. Isn’t that amazing?
Gosh, that scared me for a second!
This next picture is intriguing, to say the least. When you think that you understood what’s going on in the image, you have a big surprise. So far, this is one of the top picks for pictures you need to look at twice!
Looking at this exquisite animal, you may think that we want you to look at it closely. This owl does look slightly unusual, but if you look behind it, you’ll see something even more unusual. Once you spot the other owl in the background, you’ll probably be startled — beware!
An important message!
Parenthood is really diverse nowadays. Who said that only moms and dads could constitute a family? It’s not unusual to see single moms working hard to raise their kids — but mothers are not the only ones who can raise children by themselves!
When we see advertisements for baby products, we usually see the babies with their mothers, but rarely with their fathers. At first glance, you’ll probably be surprised with the picture above, and that’ll make you look at it twice. This cosmetics brand decided to use a picture of a dad with his baby to advertise its products — and this is quite the important message!
You almost tricked me!
Everything in life is about perspective. Our thoughts and opinions are all based on our life perspectives and our experiences. But visual perspective is also really important — sometimes we see things that aren’t there, or we see different things based simply on perspective.
The picture above is the perfect example of how perspective can affect the way we see things. This place looks like a fancy studio or apartment from this angle, but it’s actually none of that. This picture was taken from the inside of a guitar, but the perspective makes it look like an entire room!
Am I cake, too?
If you’re active on social media, you probably witnessed the multiple trends we find online. These trends usually last for a week or two, and most people hop on and try their hand at making videos and going viral. Recently, a trend that became quite popular was related to cakes.
Maybe you saw this trend for a while, where bakers were posting videos of cakes that looked like different things. For instance, a woman baked a hairbrush-shaped cake, and it looked out of this world. You may think that you see a grilled cheese sandwich in the picture above, but it’s actually a cake!
Wait, this doesn’t look appropriate!
Being a parent is an amazing feeling. There’s nothing like experiencing the pure love of a child. When we have kids, one of our main goals in life is to make sure that they grow healthily and happily — and that’s why parents buy gifts for their children.
In addition to making sure that the toys we buy aren’t dangerous, we also ensure that these toys are appropriate. Looking at the picture above, you may wonder what’s inappropriate about this toy cash register. Well, if you look closely at the name of the products, you’ll see something that shouldn’t be there: beer. We’re sure they could’ve picked a different beverage for this toy!
Nope, I’m out of here!
Architecture and home decor have come a long way over the years. Nowadays, we see buildings and houses that look like they came out of a fever dream. However, none of the places we see are as unusual as this bathroom we’re going to show you.
Whoever is the owner of this building and asked for this bathroom, we would love to have a chat with them. If you don’t get what’s unusual about this picture, look at the plants. See something different there? That’s a huge snake! Imagine having to use the bathroom and finding yourself face to face with this. We would run for the hills!
Au naturel.
We live in an incredible world. That’s not necessarily a secret. There are so many amazing creatures, plants, and rock formations all across the globe, but we don’t always get to see them in person. The person who took this next picture was on a hike and found this…
What is that, anyway? Depending on how you look at it, it kind of looks like a loaf of bread, but it can also look like a large sponge. Well, this thing that we see in the picture is actually a rock!
Can you point out what’s wrong here?
Living in the era of technology means that things are so advanced that we can create things using a computer and print them in 3D format. Another amazing thing we can do with computers is to create digital art that looks way too realistic.
When you first look at this picture, you’ll probably notice something off about it, even if you can’t quite pinpoint what it is. What’s unusual in this picture is that those yellow poles look fake, but they’re not. The fact that they have no shadows, an effect caused by the sunlight, makes us think that the poles are 3D drawings!
What a beautiful painting!
While this piece of art looks like it should be hung in a photography exhibit, it isn’t a framed photograph. One giveaway of why it can’t be in a museum is the shoddy edges and the cracks on the wall. No reputable museum would have such flaws on its walls unless it was intended.
This is a well-shot scene of the Australian outback taken through an open window frame. This picture is particularly interesting because it looks surreal, but at the same time, it’s actually real. We can almost hear the kangaroos jumping about in the background.
Sweet Beginnings
You and your favorite dessert have met face to face. You spot its crusty-coated top layer. Next, your teeth are digging into its creamy interior. Except, the insides aren’t sweet and moist. They’re dusty and grainy, just like the taste of sand.
This tiramisu cake or Leche flan, whatever dessert you were thinking of, isn’t a piece of cake at all. This is the Algerian desert in all its glory. Deserts can be white and orange too. The white dusting is snow that’s been leftover. Or frosting, yum.
Everything Looks Good But…
This power couple decided to capture this special memory. It was a game worth remembering, and their love was worth sharing. So what’s the big deal here? We’ll give you some time to think about it. If you’re absolutely stumped like we were, keep reading.
Look at the gap between the mom and dad. Their baby is hiding in the shadow. He decided to photobomb his parent’s picture, but little did he know that he’d be found. The internet is a vast place, and you can reveal almost any secret or puzzle. And kid, you’re the missing puzzle piece.
Helping Hand
This ideal American family has it all. A father who works a 9-5 job but earns more than he’s worth. A mom that’s so keen on her baking that she’s set up her own shop—the perfect A student who’s the daughter and the Sudoku king of his school, the son.
But wait. They aren’t your typical family. They’re actually mutants. Check out the father’s arms; he appears to have one too many. It looks like they were scrimping on their magazine designer. Yikes. Should have double or triple-checked the spread.
Where’s John?
We all have that grandma or that friend’s grandma, who has the iconic floral couch smack dab in the middle of their living room. It’s been passed down from generation to generation, and it always lives no matter how frayed it looks.
Are those combat boots floating? Nah. This military guy was pooped from training that he decided to sprawl out on the couch. With arms and legs outstretched, he blended right into grandma’s favorite couch. It looks like he’s still practicing Bootcamp camouflaging at home.
Beautiful Animals
At first glance, you might think that this is a creepy-crawly is a caterpillar with an odd-looking surface. It has black spikes peeking out from every end. But after looking closer, you’ll notice that it’s a group of songbirds nestled on a thin branch. Cute, isn’t it?
Instead of looking like a creepy caterpillar, this flock of birds is happily singing away on this tree. If only we could listen to them sing – what a harmony they must have created! Nature is chock full of beautiful and colorful surprises such as this one.
Saturn’s Waves
We’ve achieved the unthinkable. We’ve landed on Mars, made it to the moon, and now we’re exploring other worlds with similar climates to ours. In the year 2060, we figure out with our man-made hydro microscopes that waves exist on Saturn.
But, in reality, this picture illustrates a happy blogger’s fisheye image of the beach. We like to think the first part is true. It’s incredible how nature can be interpreted in so many ways. This beach can be a planet and vice versa. Mother nature is amazing.
Work of Art
Man, that cat really knows how to win a staring contest. He isn’t even trying! What looked like a pair of cats hanging out from the inside of a bag quickly turned into a cross-stitch artwork of two cats huddled together. We love this concept because it certainly isn’t an ordinary one.
Artwork like these only comes around every so often. The colors are impeccable, and the shading is spot on. We’d love to see a version of dogs as well! Kudos to this god-like cross stitcher. The Reddit user who posted this must get a lot of worries from guests when they visit their home.
How is this possible?
Even if you’re not an art lover, you probably appreciate looking at some paintings. It’s incredible to think of what some people can do with a brush and some paint — their talent is out of this world! Check out this next photo…
What a beautiful painting, right? Well, the fun part is that this is not a painting at all! We know it seems kind of unreal, but this is a photograph taken from a professional camera. Now, this is another perfect example of pictures you have to look at twice in order to believe they’re real!
Snow White!
When we first glance at this picture, all we see is snow everywhere. Even if you’re not a winter person, you certainly must appreciate the cold weather and the snow at least a tiny bit. If you live in a hot place, you would probably love to have a snowy day at least once a year.
If you take a quick glance at this picture, it’s unlikely that you’ll notice anything different in the picture. All is white. All is covered in snow. Well, if you look at it twice, you’ll see two doe eyes staring at you. At this point, you’ll see the full picture and see the adorable bunny that is hiding from predators!
Blurry pictures are not my friend!
Imagine that you’re wearing one of your cutest outfits and looking really good in it. You go out with friends and take a bunch of pictures. Once you get home, you go through the pictures and realize that most of them were blurry. This has probably happened to you at least once, right?
Looking at this picture, your eyes are probably hurting. Everything in this meat looks blurry — but, interestingly enough, the other elements in the image are not blurry. There’s an explanation for that: the photo is not blurry. It’s just that the slices of meat are so thin you can basically see through them!
Look where you’re going!
Have you ever heard about the county of Cornwall, in England? This county was basically built over mining tunnels. Thus you never what’s beneath the ground when you’re walking through this place. Because of that, it’s not unusual to find “do not leave the path” signs when you’re in the countryside.
While this picture was not taken in Cornwall, there should probably be a “do not walk through the path” sign here. There are no mining tunnels or sinkholes in the photo, but there’s a river hidden beneath all those fallen leaves. Imagine following that path and finding out that it’s not a path at all!
What a perfectly designed place!
Remember what we said about photographs, perspective, and camera angles? The way in which you position your camera can change the entire outcome of the picture you’re taking. We even showed you that photo of the inside of a guitar that looked like an apartment.
If you don’t know the context of this picture, you probably think that this is an aerial view of a city with an enormous number of buildings. Well, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. This is actually an aerial view of a cemetery!
Don’t let children come anywhere near this place!
When we have young children at home, we take different measures to ensure their safety. We get rid of sharp objects, cover any electrical outlets within their reach, and don’t leave toxic products on the floor, among other measures.
While this looks like some sort of chocolate-covered donut, you surely don’t want your children to come anywhere near that. That is actually an interesting-looking mushroom that grew in this woman’s backyard. We can only hope she was able to get it out before it started spreading!
So tasty — not really!
France has exported so many different goods to the world, from paintings to books to films to food. Who doesn’t enjoy eating French pastries, such as macaroons, crepes, croissants? There’s nothing quite like eating a croissant and drinking a delicious cup of coffee.
Anyone who looks at this picture will think that they see a croissant. Well, we’re here to tell you that there are no croissants in this picture. In fact, there’s not even any food in this picture — what you’re seeing is actually a bar of soap! Yes, that’s correct. Someone put a bar of soap in the microwave, and that’s what came out!