Inspired by how some animals can blend into their environment Liu Bolin from China uses camouflage principles to create amazing contemporary art.
Also check out: Invisible Car and Urban Camouflage
Inspired by how some animals can blend into their environment Liu Bolin from China uses camouflage principles to create amazing contemporary art.
Also check out: Invisible Car and Urban Camouflage
mary
the truck one was incredible!
Oct 4th, 2009
Mika
The bulldozer I actually had to really look in order to see him!
Oct 4th, 2009
Chris
Yeah, agreed, definitely the digger one was the best.
Oct 4th, 2009
Peter Ong
Agreed on the bulldozer, he “disappeared” and it did take me a while to see him.
Oct 4th, 2009
Paul Sample
Oh myyy!!! agreed! It was hard to find him on the bulldozer pic.
Oct 5th, 2009
Erick bas
WWWWWOOOOWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oct 5th, 2009
Toyama
The bulldozer camou has got to be the best, it also got me to look the 2nd time before I actually take full notice of him
Oct 5th, 2009
Anirtak
wow! how on earth did the artist do this!?
Oct 5th, 2009
tech-mad
gasp! brilliant!
Oct 5th, 2009
palak bhatt
Wow!!! Great i hope i will find in india soon…..
Oct 5th, 2009
Diego
The bulldozer one is just AMAZING ! even better than a Chamaleon!
Oct 5th, 2009
josie
really struggled to find him in the digger picture. well done toxel
Oct 5th, 2009
Dominic
I’d like to see the original shots from another angle. They just look too photoshopped.
Oct 5th, 2009
joel
i agree. another angle would give it more credibility. great art, but the bulldozer doesn’t looks altered. still amazing!
Oct 5th, 2009
Andy Fergason
The bulldozer one is the best.
I think the colors also effect how well the person blends into the background.
Oct 5th, 2009
Gir
Wow, good looking stuff. Some are better than others which for me lends some credence to them.
Oct 5th, 2009
Sherbiny
the bulldozer one is the best, it took me one or two seconds to find out where he is
Oct 5th, 2009
Tiffany!
I totally thought the digger one was put in just to trick us and there really wasn’t a man. Hahaha. Awesome.
Oct 5th, 2009
Brad
Hello Photoshop!
Oct 5th, 2009
kleners
If you look at the phone booth one That is at another angle. If you look at any of these from a view point not designed by the artist it will be distorted. This is real stuff Ive seen it a few times. First time was in a movie about a ventriloquist killer that did this type stuff to hide in plain site. This is the idea of optic camouflage you have to have something record and display on the front exactly what the other view point would see. This in turn would be exactly what someone would look like with true invisible tech. just shadows and highlights.
Oct 5th, 2009
PM
bulldozer O____________________O
Oct 5th, 2009
Max Cummins
Incredibly impressive. I’m not sure whether or not to believe my eyes for some of them, however they’re all fascinating; real or not.
Oct 5th, 2009
JKent
I’M CALLING BS!!
At least in touching up. Take a look at the last pic; he’s got no shadow, but the van has a very dark one! BIG OOPS!
Oct 5th, 2009
niceguyted
If I cross my eyes and look three inches behind the pictures, I can just about see my ex-wife.
Thx for the nightmares, bro.
Oct 5th, 2009
Iwan Nagag
He isn’t an artist. He is actually a scientist demonstrating a cloaking technology that allows “them” to create clothing that bends light in such a way the observer sees only the scene behind the wearer. They are still perfecting the technology. These photos were taken 20 years ago and the technology has improved tremendously since then. As a matter of fact someone has been standing behind you the whole time.
Oct 5th, 2009
DZRTJUL
Yeah, the bulldozer was a hard one!!
Oct 5th, 2009
jim
Great Work !!
Oct 5th, 2009
JaCobian91
Octocamo anyone?
Oct 5th, 2009
Evan
The bulldozer one was like finding waldo
Oct 6th, 2009
ant
totally agree. the bulldozer is one of the many that I need to look upon the second time before spotting him. Great arrangement!
Oct 6th, 2009
Johnson Koh
I almost cant find him in the Bulldozer image!
Oct 6th, 2009
SMStedman
Maybe not “Big Brother” but “Blend in Brother” is watching you!!! Excellent and fun.
Oct 6th, 2009
Artspeak
If one wants to be truly convinced of this man’s art, a sequence of photos for each situation should be shown, i.e., left angle – frontal – right angle. This would do more to convince the Photoshop skeptics of authenticity.
If it is a trick of Photoshop, then it is well done. As for JKent’s comment about no shadow as Liu stands in front of the van, he may have a point. There would not be as much shadow as in the space beneath the van, but there are no shadows at all, even subtle ones which should appear between Liu Bolin’s feet.
Oct 6th, 2009
Harry
I could barely see him in that bulldozer pic he almost looks invisible. Maybe you could do an update on how he does this. Pretty awesome stuff.
Oct 6th, 2009
menyus
Great pics (wondering if it’s Photoshop – if yes, still a good idea being well implemented, if not – then it’s more than amazing…) – köszi Piroska! ;)
Oct 6th, 2009
Easy Rhino
Predator!
Oct 6th, 2009
Karin Stewart
Quite fascinating and very creative!
Oct 6th, 2009
Ted Aquino
It took me a few seconds to see the person in the Bulldozer picture. Great stuff.
Oct 7th, 2009
Thomas
Nice, some of them seem computer generated though. Especially the bulldozer-picture. Anyone knows?
Oct 7th, 2009
KazeArt
Well, that’s pretty original at least. Nice. :)
Oct 7th, 2009
Jon
I thought they were all very good with the exception of the second to last one. he has just painted himself white and stood in a white room with his eyes closed!
Oct 7th, 2009
Bulldozer
I guarantee the next person is going to say that the bulldozer / digger was the best. Yes, let’s all just keep saying the same thing all over again.
… by the way, the bulldozer one was amazing.
Oct 7th, 2009
Karen
woah, the bulldozer one took me forever to figure out!
Oct 7th, 2009
laure
You are right . The bulldozer took me few second to find him. There is another one , challenging also, in front of the train..Anyway very creative..
Oct 8th, 2009
MJPO
Some people said they wanted to see it from different angles. It woesn’t work like that, his art wouldn’t line up with the background.
Oct 9th, 2009
Flavio
The bulldozer picture is definitely the best one.
Oct 9th, 2009
WiseGuy2009
The bulldozer… oh my! :o
Oct 11th, 2009
FredWallace
Yes, it won’t line up. That’s the idea–it would lend credibility to the pictures authenticity if one could see the art obscured from another angle.
Oct 11th, 2009
toff696
GOD DAMN IT IT’S an articulated loader not a bulldozer!!!!!!!!!!
Oct 13th, 2009
James Savin
That articulated loader one is great..
Oct 14th, 2009
Pete
Wow theres at least one in Liverpool . Oh and the bulldozer one yes had to look 2x
Oct 14th, 2009
Adison
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those pics r soooooooooooooo cool. Whats up with the 2nd 2 last one? That one HAD ro be the easiest! Did i spell that right?
Oct 17th, 2009
mikael
brilliant
it took me like 5 minutes to find him in the bulldozer
Oct 17th, 2009
davidj
My favorite one is the bulldozer when I realized he could have saved time and just took a picture of it without being in the picture at all.
Reminds me of the photorealist painter who deliberately painted scenes as if they were photographs taken slightly out of focus.
At some point, what is the point?
Oct 27th, 2009
davidj
Oh yeah it is a Loader – it took so long to scroll down I forgot what it was LOL
Oct 27th, 2009
rollingtay
I don’t get it. A bunch of uninteresting pictures?
Oct 28th, 2009
amu-ka
wow…that truck one is the best!! I coulden’t find the man!! great job
Oct 29th, 2009
Borellus
The bulldoser one was very hard to spot. Those are amazing.
Nov 7th, 2009
kafka7664
the man is transparent! certainly doesn’t work on wall street!
Nov 8th, 2009
Bulldozer
Bulldozer, Bulldozer, Bulldozer,
Please can some one pay me one cent for every time I see the statement, the ‘Bulldozer was amazing/hard to spot/unbelievable’ I will be able to quit my job before long with these royalty payments.
It’s great to see human’s have individual views and are not clones of each other having the power of independent thought and have the ability to say something original without trotting out the same drivel as the person before.
Please let’s trot out this same predictable statement at least 10,000 more times – because I am not quite yet sure whether people liked the bulldozer (or articulated loader as someone correctly pointed out) or not.
Yours sincerely,
Bulldozer.
PS I just loved the Bulldozer one.
Nov 12th, 2009
Bulldozer
Yes there are some grammar/spelling errors in Bulldozers statement above – Bulldozer is prepared to acknowledge this.
By the way, everyone, check out the Bulldozer one – it’s almost impossible to spot him, isn’t it??
Nov 12th, 2009
AW
There are no limits to the imagination and intellect really. Here’s proof.
Nov 14th, 2009
Harry
this is photoshop right? it would be unbelievable if it wasnt lol
Nov 16th, 2009
Onciale
Incredible quality, I’m … I don’t know how to say in english.
Nov 27th, 2009
S.S.
To dispel some of the previous comments. it is real. ABC news (United States of America) had story today, displaying Liu at work, blending into a pile of rubble. Someone else does paint his face, as he was already positioned among the bricks and mortar. I also saw that NBC News had the story too.
I found the train one, besides the bulldozer a challenge too.
Sad, that such a sad affair brought such invention. Since there is no description (but I found this site the best to share with others for the picture size and quality…) I share:
Through his artistry, he paints himself to be invisible – just as his fellow Chinese are, in the name of “progress.” From towns completly bulldozed for Olympics, to industry and rubble, Liu speaks volumes …- unseen.
Peace,
S. S.
Portland, Oregon
Dec 10th, 2009
Kenny Nguyen
For those of you who doesn’t believe this is true arts (no photoshop) you should do some research yourself. There are pictures taken from different angles of his art, of course with him painting it.
Dec 10th, 2009
erin
wow your art is really amazing i love the bouldozer
Dec 10th, 2009
Elizabeth
ABC news showed video of them painting him for a picture with bricks. It was very believable. Now they may change the light levels or something to take out some of the contrast. It does appear looking through the photos he has improved (the construction one and bridge with water vs. the really simple olympic character one and the destroyed white building below it).
Dec 10th, 2009
ABigJerk
The bulldozer was great!
Dec 11th, 2009
Marius B
The bulldozer one is my favorite, by far!
Dec 12th, 2009
Julia
Incredible!!!! Very cool, very original!!!!
S.S I loved your comments.
Bulldozer, shut up!!! If it bugs you so much when people comment about the bulldozer photo, stop reading the comments.
Iwan Nagag, you actually made me turn around-hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
Dec 16th, 2009
Bernard Farrell
The London telephone boxes picture was excellent….also the bulldozer.
Dec 17th, 2009
Ken
I didn’t see a bulldozer, but I did see a front end loader, ….pretty cool. What’s next, blending in to a moving panorama?
Dec 27th, 2009
Some Dood
hey this Liu Bolin guy is a genius & talented artist. Wow it take me a while to get the bulldozer 1, as it did with alot of other ppl here I see lol. Nice stuff
Jan 2nd, 2010
soulprana
Good stuff!
Jan 9th, 2010
snowwolf
Wow, the bulldozer one, I actually thought it was cheating me and the guy isn’t there :P incredible
Jan 14th, 2010
Augusto Valdivia
Very, original and creative
Jan 17th, 2010
Egon van Dalz
To me it looks like the work of Veruschka and Holger Trülzsch… In the ’70s.
He didn’t invented it.
Bt Liu Bolin’s work is still stunning.
Jan 29th, 2010
kyzzz
the bulldozer is really amazing………….
whoooooooooooooooaaaaaaa……..
*_~
Feb 9th, 2010
ziwow
the buldozerrr…great!!
Feb 15th, 2010
Vu Bui
Sad that people would rather believe that this amazing artist in out to con people more than they would believe that he is that much more talented than the average person will ever be.
For those using the van photo’s lack of shadow underneath him as evidence of fakery… look at the shadow under the van… and look at the small patch of sky in the background. It’s obviously an overcast sky, which is basically a huge diffusion filter for the sun. This means that light comes in evenly from all directions above and wraps around objects. That’s why the van’s shadow is much smaller than the van itself and why his shadow is only directly under his feet.
Feb 20th, 2010
Brissa Jordan
Pretty cool, I don’t believe all of them are real though, looks to amazing if it were.
Hey, I could be wrong though… Still love this!
Mar 9th, 2010
SHUMAILA
BULLDOZER ONE IS FANTABULOUS
WELL DONE
Mar 24th, 2010
Besti Salsati
THE BULLDOZER IS AWESOME!!
Apr 4th, 2010
timmay
omg!!! i love them the bulldozer i really had to look for it that is just amazing
Apr 6th, 2010
Brett
that was pretty sweet the bulldozer one it took me like 5 minutes the first time my brother and sister did not even see it
Apr 9th, 2010
ee
BULLDOZER ONE ROCKS!!!!
Apr 11th, 2010
josh
picture of BULLDOZER is great
Apr 11th, 2010
lollipop
the truck one was AWESOME! at first i culdnt tell were
the guy was! LOL:)
Apr 23rd, 2010
Barbara
Thanks for sharing, your blog is really great!
May 14th, 2010
Laura
When I first looked at the bulldozer one I couldn’t find him. I thought it was accidentely been put in there!
LOL!
:) ;)
May 17th, 2010
Rio
London telephone box one is just genius. I couldn’t see the bulldozer one either. Took me a good 20 seconds to find him!
Jun 14th, 2010
jo
MY HERO
Jul 9th, 2010
van
camouflage pic #7 was AMAZING!
Jul 28th, 2010
сержж
wow! wonderfull!!!!
Aug 10th, 2010
Norman
omgah an asian person that doesn’t stand out. shocking
Oct 25th, 2010
justin
i dont know what u guys are talking about.i couldnt see anyone.
Nov 4th, 2010
mai
wtf how does he do it in the bulldozer 1???
Jan 31st, 2011
AJ
The bulldozer was the hardest , but his feet gave him away.
Feb 8th, 2011
Jeff
Liu Bolin’s Mum says: if he comes home one more time with his clothes covered in paint he’s got to leave. Washing machine is knackered and I’ve run out of detergent!
Feb 10th, 2011
MLIA
the bulldozer one was really good
Feb 12th, 2011
Marzena
There’s one thing (in fact it’s a video)I can relate it to… It’s the sunny day in glasgow videoclip..
I don’t think it’s a really innovative idea, I’ve seen this kind of stuff too many times
watch this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHXRxtMQAlg
Feb 13th, 2011
CD
It’s a front-end loader not a bulldozer; just for clarification. :)
Feb 13th, 2011
Mary DeSchailles
Lol this dude’s gonna put the Pink Panther out of business…
Feb 13th, 2011
Monica
I love these pics. really great art I must say. And they are NOT shopped! There’s a video on youtube showing the work in progress :)
Feb 14th, 2011
pupwad54
Love that articulated loader. Or is it a front-end loader? Enough already. PEOPLE please read what’s already been posted B4 making an ORIGINAL comment.
Feb 15th, 2011
Gordon
It was pretty hard to recognize the guy with the tractor
Feb 16th, 2011
KML
It’s a wheel loader not a bulldozer… haha. But, yes it is incredible, I thought that one was a joke picture because I couldn’t find the person.
May 15th, 2011
omglolcoolj
Very cool, the dozer photo was epic. Guy is a ninja.
May 16th, 2011
Siera
I had to zoom in and really look in the bulldozer one.
May 16th, 2011
Ben Bazalgette
look people, this is not ‘find wally’.
does nobody see any deeper artistic sense than saying he got a shadow wrong on the van one?
Jun 22nd, 2011
Jane
the buldoser one is amazing
Jul 29th, 2011
Jane
the bulldozer is the hardest i’m telling the truth i mean it took me at least 3 minutes
Oct 2nd, 2011
Brian D. Smittenwerben
Three minutes, you say? That long? It took me like 2:57! You’re so slow. Lol. I like the bulldozer one too, jane. We have a lot in common. Got anything planned Friday? How about the theater in Carnegie Hall? I’ll bring the popcorn. you bring yourself. I’ll be waiting for your response-send it by bird. Anyway, good job, liu bolin. ongratualations on having a thousand people commenting on your awesomeness. props.
Jan 26th, 2012
Jebeng Otai
The bulldozer one is awesome.. :)
Feb 5th, 2012
sara ki
I was watching this somewheres and it wasn’t from no movie either. It’s not photoshoped the show actually was showing him paint the people up and how long it would take.
Oct 4th, 2012
Jonathan Willman
My god, Have any one seen his one with the shopping mart? These are awesome
Nov 25th, 2013