Don’t Be Deceived - Creative Examples Of Pareidolia On Horses, Rocks, And Bananas

So you know when you see faces on random objects? You know, like anything from smiling faces on flowers to visions of Jesus Christ on toast.

Well apparently, that's got a name. Yeah, it's called Pareidolia (bonus points for saying that correctly ten times).

It's described as being a "psychological phenomenon involving an image or sound wherein the mind perceives a familiar pattern of something where not actually exists". Perfectly clear, or not, as the case may be...

Visually, it often relates to perceived images of animals, faces, or objects, in clouds, rock formations, or natural patterning.

Everybody perceives the shapes differently and what is a charred bit of bread to one person, is the second coming to another.

With this in mind, the creative community on Worth1000, who are now part of the DesignCrowd family, decided to use their Photoshop skills to deliberately engineer shapes into ordinary scenes for everyone's enjoyment.

And the great thing about these, is you know the shape is definitely in there, you just need to look harder.

Scroll down to see some of our favorites, or visit the community galleries to see more examples.

Wolf on a horse

Pareidolia Photoshop Contest

Artwork by Ktlong

Crocodile tree

Pareidolia Photoshop Contest

Artwork by Pixjockey

Elephant eruption

Pareidolia Photoshop Contest

Artwork by Cl0Ckw0Rk

Elephant rock

Pareidolia Photoshop Contest

Artwork by Hemantsharma

Fish tree

Pareidolia Photoshop Contest

Artwork by Photality

Frog's big mouth

Pareidolia Photoshop Contest

Artwork by Khaliddfy

Face in the rocks

Pareidolia Photoshop Contest

Artwork by Fairyan

Ghoulish white rocks

Pareidolia Photoshop Contest

Artwork by Underworth

Man in the rocks

Pareidolia Photoshop Contest

Artwork by Icyall

Jesus in a banana

Pareidolia Photoshop Contest

Artwork by Norrit

Christ on the white wall

Pareidolia Photoshop Contest

Artwork by Budmulla

Cheesus Christ?

Pareidolia Photoshop Contest

Artwork by Qrios1

Mother Mary in the pizza topping

Pareidolia Photoshop Contest

Artwork by Halvarado

Want more?

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Written by Kevin Bradford on Friday, July 29, 2016

Kevin Bradford is a content editor at DesignCrowd with a background in journalism and digital production. Experienced in both writing and videography, he loves combining his skills to create captivating content across all multimedia channels.