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Can you stop a wave with a bulldozer? It is a mere optical illusion, but that seems to be deduced by looking at this image that I have captured for La Vanguardia’s Readers’ Photos. Sometimes truth and lies can be exchanged.
An optical illusion leads us to perceive reality in various ways. It may be physiological in nature, associated with the effects of excessive stimulation in the eyes or brain (brightness, color, movement, etc.).
Or also of a cognitive nature, in which our knowledge of the world intervenes (such as Rubin’s vase in which we perceive two faces from the side or a vase indistinctly).
Many artists have taken advantage of optical illusions to give their works a magical appearance, depth, ambiguity and contrasts. Photography does not escape this type of effects, as we can see with this image of the bulldozer that seems to want to stop the wave with its shovel on the beach of Castelldefels, in Baix Llobregat.
Perspective also comes into play, which, together with the optical effect of the snapshot, gives us an unexpected, surprising point of view.
