Girl Stuck In Concrete Illusion
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About
Girl Stuck In Concrete Illusion refers to a photograph of a young girl standing outside on a concrete path, the bottom half of her body appearing to be completely missing. To some, it looks like the girl is stuck in the concrete, while others see her standing behind a wall. The optical illusion was first posted to Reddit in May 2021 and spread across the web later that month.
Origin
On May 6th, 2021, Redditor u/MK24ever posted an image to /r/confusing_perspective[1] titled, "My daughter, where's the rest of her?! Ohh I see, do you?" The image shows a young girl standing outside on a concrete path taking a photograph with a cellphone, her arms raised. The girl's bottom half is completely invisible, making it appear as if she is stuck in the concrete (shown below). The post gained over 69,200 upvotes in two weeks.
The girl is actually standing behind a short wall, which is hiding the lower half of her body. This can be seen in the way her shadow is cast on the top of the wall, where her elbow also happens to be resting. The trim on the far side of the concrete path, which shares a close resemblance to the top of the wall, coupled with the grass in the foreground, adds to the illusion, making the scene look flatter than it is.
Later that day, u/MK24ever commented under the original post with a labeled image to help people see the wall (shown below).[2]
Spread
The image was shared numerous times over the next two weeks on social media. On May 6th, Twitter[3] user @TimKietzmann posted the image, garnering over 8,400 likes and 1,400 retweets in two weeks. A version of the image as an image macro also began spreading, reading, "The internet's latest obsession. Do you see a girl stuck in concrete or hiding behind a wall?" (shown below).
On May 7th, Twitter[6] user @bioinfolucas posted a "fixed" version of the image as a reply to @TimKietzmann's tweet, garnering over 200 likes in two weeks (shown below). Twitter[7] user @kelly27ans posted another solution that day illustrating where the girl's legs would be (shown below, right)
On May 16th, the Daily Mail[4] reported on the illusion. On May 17th, the New York Post[5] reported on it.
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] Reddit – My daughter, where's the rest of her?! Ohh I see, do you?
[2] Reddit – Ok, to help visualize
[3] Twitter – No photoshop involved. #OnceYouSeeIt
[4] Daily Mail – Picture of a little girl seemingly 'stuck in concrete' baffles the internet – so can you solve the illusion?
[5] NY Post – Internet baffled by photo of girl seemingly stuck in sidewalk
