Seeing Faces Everywhere

Water pipes in the Ladies, Victoria Art Gallery Bath. Spotted years ago, someone pencilled in the eyes and mouth. Recently redecorated but faces restored.

Have you ever glanced at an everyday object and suddenly spotted a face looking back at you? A smile in the pattern of a plug socket, a frown in a car’s headlights, or—as in Sue W’s photo below—the stern expressions of two tiny guardians hidden in the pipework of a lady’s loo.

This experience is called pareidolia: our brain’s tendency to interpret random shapes and patterns as something familiar, most often faces. It’s a fascinating quirk of human perception and one that photographers are especially attuned to. After all, photography trains us to notice visual relationships that others might overlook.

Sue suggested linking to a light hearted photographic article from the University of Washington Libraries blog, which gives an excellent short introduction to the phenomenon: Pareidolia – the phenomenon of seeing faces everywhere.

Next time you’re out with your camera (or just walking around the house), keep an eye out. You might find a whole gallery of hidden expressions waiting in the most unexpected corners.