CLICK HERE if you are having trouble viewing these photos on a mobile device
If you go to the new Museum of 3D Illusions, housed in a double storefront on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, try not to step on the people sprawled out on the floor.
Don’t worry, they’re fine. They’re just getting their pictures snapped in front of elaborately painted trompe l’oeil mural backdrops (and floordrops) that — when photographed from a very specific angle — make it appear as if they’re dangling from a skyscraper, escaping outstretched zombie arms or sitting on the fingertip of a giant.
The museum — a term loosened in recent years by attractions like San Francisco’s wildly popular Museum of Ice Cream — is unapologetically promoted as a collection of selfie photo-ops for social media, where you can “take avant-garde pictures where you are the main focus!” and “be the envy of your friends as you share your experience … through pictures!”
That envy will cost you, though. It’s $25 for adults and $10 for kids 6-12 And if you’re really feeling wild, the $100 V.I.P entry comes with a staff photographer to accompany you through the short maze and take the selfies for you, which then, I guess, wouldn’t count as selfies. Someone-else-ies?
Anyway, this is the second Museum of 3D Illusions — the first opened in Los Angeles in 2018. (Not to be confused with the Museum of Illusions in New York, which is a different business.) It’s run by the Big Funny company, with murals hand-painted by artists from around the world.
You’ll find the Museum of 3D Illusions at 55/61 Jefferson St. on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco; www.sfillusions.com.