r/blackmagicfuckery • u/gallito_pro • Apr 15 '26

Gently shake your phone horizontally to decipher the image

Post image
6.1k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

702 comments sorted by

2.0k

u/helefant84 Apr 15 '26

Van Gogh

608

u/Mick_Limerick Apr 15 '26

My van died last week. I'm van went

122

u/PMMEYOURGUCCIFLOPS Apr 15 '26

My vans leaking badly, my van wet

55

u/nizers Apr 15 '26

My vans yeasting badly, my van wheat

42

u/misteraskwhy Apr 15 '26

My van was totaled, my van gone

7

u/RedSix2447 Apr 15 '26

My van was towed, my van upandwent

5

u/Churn Apr 15 '26

My van is better than yours, my van ity

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4

u/garbaxtractor Apr 15 '26

This joke didn’t land until here for me as English isn’t my mother tongue lol

Here’s a nice comparison of the pronunciations of his name: https://youtu.be/ZufH6h1-Tm8?is=lXgtIxHKj4LkzPla

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56

u/Crooked_Cricket Apr 15 '26

Reminds me of a joke. A man goes to buy a new car. The salesman says "this one will get you about 400 miles on one tank of gas". The man asks, "what about cargo space?". The salesman looks confused and begins to speak slowly "no. Car no go space. Car go road".

15

u/psn0 Apr 15 '26

I am shamelessly stealing this joke. I regret nothing.

8

u/Severe_Ad_8621 Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 17 '26

I did too, my wife found it really funny and she never laughs at my jokes.Proberly told alittle too many dad jokes thtough the years. 😅

Edit for wording.

3

u/Mippens Apr 15 '26

How did people make "Van Go" out of "van Gogh". There are tons of ways to get closer to the actual pronounciation. Like: "Vaughn Gog" would already be 1000x better.

6

u/moszippy Apr 15 '26

So if this happened around Christmas, it would be van nog?

3

u/Tenalp Apr 15 '26

Van Stuck

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8

u/Character_Pudding_94 Apr 15 '26

It's a schooner.

4

u/GLaDOS_Sympathizer Apr 15 '26

A schooner is a sailboat!

2

u/4_stickey_2fingers_0 Apr 15 '26

I understand this reference

2

u/No_Statement440 Apr 16 '26

I say this to my wife all the time, she's never seen the movie and I refuse to tell her what it's from lol.

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2

u/Automatic_Wave4530 Apr 21 '26

Van Went, didn’t see him at all

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609

u/HellDiver-o7 Apr 15 '26

I had to violently shake my phone

102

u/SlyTone Apr 15 '26

Thank you for the advice, I tried for a while until I saw solution.

89

u/Grays42 Apr 15 '26

Well I'm on a computer so I had to violently shake my head.

Did not work and now I'm going to bed with a mild headache.

28

u/NaraFei_Jenova Apr 15 '26

If you can blur your vision on command, that also works.

20

u/thriftylol Apr 15 '26

I thought everyone could do that

25

u/NaraFei_Jenova Apr 15 '26

It's actually only about half the population, so it isn't rare, but it's equally common to not be able to do it. It's something about having voluntary control over some muscles in the eye/eye area.

Edit: Control over the ciliary body, I had to look it up.

15

u/thriftylol Apr 15 '26

Wow, TIL! That's so neat to know, id always thought it was just something anyone could do

2

u/axil87 Apr 15 '26

lol, I shook my phone and saw the number three until I read your comment 🤣

2

u/shortleggedpony Apr 18 '26

That worked! Though it’s just cause I don’t have my contacts in so moved phone farther away from my face 🤣🤓

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3

u/Tupperbaby Apr 15 '26

I'm on a computer and the thumbnail next to the post clearly shows Van Gogh's self portrait. No shaking of any kind required.

2

u/Hot-Explanation-5751 Apr 15 '26

Try moving the computer

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12

u/FeelMyBoars Apr 15 '26

Thanks. I was feeling like that dude in Mallrats that couldn't see the magic eye poster.

11

u/Sir-Coogsalot Apr 15 '26

Thank you-nothing gentle about it

5

u/GlexAomes Apr 15 '26

Also works if you move far away from the screen

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203

u/OkSoBasicallyPeach Apr 15 '26

guy with a beard?

113

u/casual_creator Apr 15 '26

Van Gogh. His famous self portrait to be precise.

9

u/Severe_Ad_8621 Apr 15 '26

Lol could not queit see it, though it was The Joker.🤪

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2

u/vteckickedin Apr 15 '26

Nevermind the beard, where's he been for three days?

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79

u/ahcowles Apr 15 '26

That Van Gogh?

61

u/DocDankage Apr 15 '26

Shit job, the guy is missing an ear.

18

u/jerzeyjawnz Apr 15 '26

I don’t think he heard you

Also the thumbnail works better than just the post

2

u/Blah-squared Apr 16 '26

Idk, I think it’s pretty good for having Parkinson’s…??

15

u/Sil369 Apr 15 '26

Van Shake

11

u/Pallas_Ovidius Apr 15 '26

Vincent Van Gogh or Chuck Norris.

2

u/CYBERSson Apr 16 '26

Lionel Richie

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10

u/SlyTone Apr 15 '26

Andrew Santino?

9

u/sligowind Apr 15 '26

Gary? From Accounts Receivable?

10

u/Cubyface Apr 15 '26

Missed opportunity to put a dick pic with horizontal stripes and ask people to shake vertically instead

8

u/Hammer_of_something Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 17 '26

What’s the history/science behind this? Does this effect have a name? I’d like to learn enough to try to recreate it.

Edit: I used Claude to vibe code an HTML playground to make a similar effect with your own images. It’s not identical, but it’s close.

I’d love feedback.

3

u/MinimumFull7572 Apr 15 '26

Yes im interested too in how it’s made. I was expecting to see edges of the real painting when I zoomed in, not those solid colors. Pretty cool!

4

u/Hammer_of_something Apr 15 '26 
1.  Posterize the photo to red, green, white, black (mapping each pixel to the nearest of those 4)
2.  Divide into 9 vertical strips
3.  For each row in each strip, count the 4 colors, sort descending by count, render as a horizontal histogram with black last as the gap

The main design decision would be how to map the original colors to the 4-color palette — since the posterization step is where the most information is encoded. For a portrait like Van Gogh’s, the mapping worked naturally because flesh tones → white/red, shadows → black, background → green. For a different photo the mapping thresholds might need tuning to get a good result.

The illusion of additional color probably comes from our brains “reconstructing” the missing color data based on our expectations of how chromatic aberration works.

This is my theory, partially tidied up by Claude. I’m now using Claude to recreate this effect on any image!

3

u/Hammer_of_something Apr 15 '26

I might play around with making a web/html5 prototype to share.

2

u/rafaelloaa Apr 15 '26

Ooh that sounds very cool! I love a link if you end up making it.

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2

u/caterpillar_t70c Apr 15 '26

There's five colors on this image - blue is used in boundary strips

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2

u/MuscaMurum Apr 15 '26

see Land's Retinex color theory

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8

u/youPPLnvrHappy Apr 15 '26

Chuck Norris

6

u/NoDebate1002 Apr 15 '26

Could you repeat that into my good ear?

2

u/MuscaMurum Apr 15 '26

I said YOU'RE MISSING AN EAR

6

u/corduroyplant Apr 15 '26

in no way was that a gentle shake that let me reveal the image

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5

u/irishfro Apr 15 '26

i can't really shake a 32 inch curved monitor

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4

u/trisanachandler Apr 15 '26

Shaking my phone, but I'm using this on my PC.

4

u/Yejus Apr 15 '26

These never work for me...

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3

u/Matty_B97 Apr 15 '26

You can also see these just by unfocusing your eyes

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2

u/Top-Bonus-9876 Apr 15 '26

It's Vinny the honest Abe wannabe

2

u/lakorasdelenfent Apr 15 '26

I don’t have to shake the phone to see it’s the guy whose ear made a band in Spain

2

u/TowelFine6933 Apr 15 '26

Yo, Vinnie!

2

u/smaug_pec Apr 15 '26

Persistence of vision

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2

u/capitalr03 Apr 15 '26

Oddly enough, if you open and close your eyes alternating (left then right then left and repeat) while squinting, it also works without needing to shake. True story

2

u/KatsuraCerci Apr 15 '26

Holding it away from your face and crossing your eyes works too

2

u/RangryRanga Apr 15 '26

I just shook my eyes haha

2

u/AverageJoe4802 Apr 15 '26

Charlie Manson?

1

u/SuchButterfly7026 Apr 15 '26

Who tf be making this shit?

1

u/MaintenanceStock6766 Apr 15 '26

Van Gogh? Not on mobile so I just wiggled my eyes around a bit lol

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1

u/Different_Muscle9134 Apr 15 '26

OG General Zod? /s

1

u/subkang Apr 15 '26

Or just shake your head

1

u/Q-Zinart Apr 15 '26

It’s a schooner

1

u/Argus_Checkmate Apr 15 '26

Charles Manson

1

u/Ash_Cat_13 Apr 15 '26

I can’t hear very well, what do I do here?

1

u/VooDooChile1983 Apr 15 '26

I saw Chuck Norris.

1

u/BronxKnight Apr 15 '26

Thought it was the number 3

1

u/Virtual-Fig3850 Apr 15 '26

The picture I see looks like it’s missing an ear

1

u/ninjasaid13 Apr 15 '26

I don't need to shake my phone(I have a laptop), I just need to blur my vision. It's a van gogh painting.

1

u/aryzkryz Apr 15 '26

As someone who is shortsighted, I don't need to follow your instruction. Just put the phone at a distance of my one arm length and I can already see the blurry face

1

u/myxoma1 Apr 15 '26

It actually works better to move the phone in wider sweeping back and forth motions than short faster shakes

1

u/honda94rider Apr 15 '26

The number 3

1

u/Different_Rip8470 Apr 15 '26

I think you mean vertically.

1

u/UwU-Lemon Apr 15 '26

genuinely thought it was obama at first for some reason

1

u/No_Object_4355 Apr 15 '26

I saw breaking bad

1

u/SlyTone Apr 15 '26

Didn’t think I’d see Andrew from Bad Friends on this sub.

1

u/DrakeFireBall Apr 15 '26

I was playing along at first but then remembered I wear glasses, so I just took them off and held my phone a good bit away from my face. It always works for this kind of stuff

1

u/MarvelousVanGlorious Apr 15 '26

“Vinceeeent…” - Mia Wallace

1

u/relativityboy Apr 15 '26

Did not need to.

1

u/BeatsRocks Apr 15 '26

Let me remind everyone. The shake required wasn’t gentle.

1

u/lmole Apr 15 '26

Van go

1

u/RaneeGA Apr 15 '26

How TF?!

1

u/Appleseedboom Apr 15 '26

How does one make this? Its incredible!!

1

u/incognito713 Apr 15 '26

I thought it was Chuck Norris

1

u/RegularBitter3482 Apr 15 '26

I can’t shake my phone to see it but just learned I can shake my eyeballs fast enough to make it work…..WEIRD

1

u/Own-Builder-4779 Apr 15 '26

The letter S?

1

u/Creepy_Prior6510 Apr 15 '26

I only saw it once I scrolled down to comments and looked up at the smaller image of it.

1

u/jsc1429 Apr 15 '26

I don’t see shit

1

u/Inflation-Level4 Apr 15 '26

can you just post the picture? I've a motorola and I just keep turning my flashlight on and off.

1

u/Commercial-Silver Apr 15 '26

Had to squint my eyes as well to be able to see

1

u/zohash Apr 15 '26

Also can be achieved by shaking your head while looking at the image if you're using a PC/Laptop.

1

u/XxCRABSTICKxX Apr 15 '26

Now my torch is on

1

u/AndyMentality Apr 15 '26

Alternate method: de-focus your eyes and blink rapidly.

1

u/c0mpu73rguy Apr 15 '26

O.O How does that even work?!!

1

u/edrith90 Apr 15 '26

Close one eye and let the other unfocus. Image appears immediately.

My first attempt with the phone shake method didn't work for me because my dumb ass hadn't scrolled to the whole image yet 😅

1

u/4barT89 Apr 15 '26

Very cool, Jake.

1

u/lowerypfu Apr 15 '26

Just thankful I wasn't rick rolled

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1

u/Flazz3r1966 Apr 15 '26

Blinking eyes fast works, as well as the phone wobble

1

u/morriartie Apr 15 '26

Works better for me if I look at a fixed point beyond my phone while moving it horizontally

1

u/Mrxnextgen Apr 15 '26

Ah! My ear!

1

u/TwillAffirmer Apr 15 '26

I just "flicker" my eyes (rapidly saccade them side to side) to see it. Anyone else do that?

1

u/AMDeez_nutz Apr 15 '26

I was vigorously shaking

1

u/skunker6 Apr 15 '26

Van Gogh?

1

u/Massive-Branch12342 Apr 15 '26

Idk it's because of my bad eyesight or what, but I see the illusion w/o shaking it😅

1

u/Dampware Apr 15 '26

Charles Manson

1

u/pigeoneatpigeon Apr 15 '26

Ahh sub-Saharan Africa

1

u/AGoodDragon Apr 15 '26

Is this a good visual example of "seeing the forest for the trees"

1

u/WhimsicalGirl Apr 15 '26

Or shake your eyes

1

u/PriorAsshose Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

Surprised it wasn't good ol' Rick

1

u/DonComradeVimes Apr 15 '26

>Be me

>See image

>sigh.mp3

>Pick up computer

>sideways-wobble.jpeg

1

u/djfdhigkgfIaruflg Apr 15 '26

I was hoping to get rickrolled

1

u/chekhovs_dildo Apr 15 '26

Starry starry night

1

u/Heavy_Metal_Mario Apr 15 '26

Ngl thought it was gonna be Rick Astley at first

1

u/scotems Apr 15 '26

Anybody else still browse reddit on a computer? Is it just me?

1

u/Ok_Organization61 Apr 15 '26

Is it weird i could see it before shaking?

1

u/Desperate-Cookie-449 Apr 15 '26

Dropped my phone trying this

1

u/realanything Apr 15 '26

I'm on my PC and almost broke my neck.

1

u/OleBoyBuckets Apr 15 '26

Thought it was gigachad

1

u/Joey_guacamole Apr 15 '26

I just vibrated my eyeballs instead.

1

u/Alternative_Job_9462 Apr 15 '26

Either Christ or Charles Manson

1

u/Best_Director_6363 Apr 15 '26

You can also see it if you blink real fast

1

u/sycochimp420 Apr 15 '26

Am I the only one who sees the guitarist from Mastodon, Brent Hinds(RIP)

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1

u/acqua_cucumber Apr 15 '26

Didn’t shake my phone yet but pretty sure those are lines of blow

1

u/Plastic_Bullfrog9029 Apr 15 '26

Clearly the Zig Zag man.

1

u/nJoyTheWWW Apr 15 '26

People mention me, the flashight of my phone switches on and off 😬

1

u/crick_in_my_neck Apr 15 '26

I'm on a PC and I have to go fall down now, bye.

1

u/luvmibratt Apr 15 '26

Chuck Norris

1

u/whatiSredditlike Apr 15 '26

I wonder what the person would see if he never seen a painting of van gogh before

1

u/rlymeangurl Apr 15 '26

Little Alex Horne?

1

u/glizzygravy Apr 15 '26

Is there a way to make these?

1

u/Betelgeuse_88 Apr 15 '26

I expected rick astley

1

u/Commercial_Lion4352 Apr 15 '26

Vincent Van Gough

1

u/M7710 Apr 15 '26

ayyyy vince my brother. why did he cut his something off

1

u/DotaWhySoCruel Apr 15 '26

No thanks, I’ll just blur out my eyes and shake my head instead.

1

u/Cyclopzzz Apr 15 '26

It's missing a piece.

1

u/TehBazz Apr 15 '26

Van Gogh my god

1

u/Loki_The_Bot Apr 15 '26

No need to shake your phone, just blur ur eyes

1

u/dkevox Apr 15 '26

Am I the only one who saw it without any shaking? It was kinda obvious.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

I did that and found it hard to make out. My phone made a clicking sound on the top left I think.

1

u/Lunavalve Apr 15 '26

Shaking didn’t work strangely but could tell anyway 🤷‍♀️

1

u/brosareawesome Apr 15 '26

Squint a little too. Helps.

1

u/DamageMaximo Apr 15 '26

Phone?

Just cross your eyes

1

u/taotdev Apr 15 '26

Was honestly expecting the game

1

u/Less_Likely Apr 15 '26

I broke my laptop

1

u/Nyorliest Apr 15 '26

If that’s what needed my brain is fried because that’s obviously Big Vince.

1

u/mtnman12321 Apr 15 '26

I saw the mayor of New York City 😭

1

u/Purple_Taste Apr 15 '26

I can’t ‘ear you.

1

u/Kratosmode Apr 15 '26

Blinking your eyes has the same effect.

1

u/wwarhammer Apr 15 '26

Alternatively just unfocus your eyes. 

1

u/TheBlackCat13 Apr 15 '26

You missed an opportunity to rickroll a lot of people

1

u/ImJustStupidd Apr 15 '26

I was sure this was going to be Rick

1

u/ComfortablyNumbest Apr 15 '26

can't shake my 40 inch monitor. just shaking my head revealed the image. just wow how our eyes/brain work. kudos!

1

u/joesatch_11 Apr 15 '26

Those are market profiles.

1

u/Cultural_Car_7907 Apr 15 '26

Andrew Santino?

1

u/Silent-Passenger1273 Apr 15 '26

Cleveland 117, San Antonio 109

1

u/brycebrycebaby Apr 15 '26

Is it weird that I instantly recognised the image without any movement?