* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia
In The Readers' Photos of La Vanguardia we can see this sequence of photographs, captured from Collserola, in which the Tramuntana mountain range of Mallorca can be seen in the background on a beautiful sunrise and clear day.
The Tramuntana mountain range is declared World Heritage by UNESCO in the Cultural Landscape category. Its silhouette is the most identifiable thing about Mallorca when it can be seen from Barcelona on days when the weather conditions allow it, as in this case.
In the photographs, however, another element draws attention; the plane, which looks like it is going to land in the Tramuntana mountains, due to the optical effect and perspective, when, in reality, it is heading to Barcelona airport.
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 plane that seems to be about to land in the Majorcan mountains and, in the end, passes by. Perspective also comes into play.
