Shadowy Surprise!

Imagine our surprise, then, when we observed the effect of the morning light on the wall near the statue. One can clearly see a surprised male face regarding the female figure. Its expression conveys more emotion than anything else in the image; and yet, on reflection (sic), it becomes apparent that the surprised face does not exist at allö its contour is defined by the shadow of the female figure. On further inspection, one can see that the shadow/highlight figure is ambiguous and undergoes reversal between the percept of the surprised male face, and a stooped elderly female whose form can be interpreted in several distinct ways. The paradox of this viewing situation is that the most salient figure is that which is not present at all, being part of the bright illumination of the wall. The resolution of this visual puzzle results in the perception of a picture with humour.We suspect that shadows may be particularly effective at producing such effects, given their paradoxical nature.