The Story Behind This Viral Invisible Girl Photo by Laura Williams

For any photographer, having one of your images go viral is a massive thrill and a major honor. Especially when you posted the photo with zero expectations.

That was the case for Laura Williams when she shared her Invisible photo on Tumblr a few years back. After only a few hours, Invisible had over 2,000 hits. Then, soon afterwards, it made the front page of Reddit and was racking up Flickr views by the hundreds of thousands.

Laura was only 18 at the time, and says she was just kind of playing around when she made the image. She had no idea what was in store. Today, the photo is still going strong. It has over 1.1 million views on Flickr and still gets shared across global photo sites all the time.

In our full interview on Laura Williams photography, she talks about how she got into photography, what inspires her, and the success of Invisible. But, here, we wanted to go further into the making of the image. In her own words, Laura tells us about the day she shot it, how she edited it, and the unexpected response when she finally decided to post it.

How Laura Williams Made Invisible

What I quite liked about when I first did it was everyone was like, “Oh, is it Photoshopped? Is it not Photoshopped?” And I like that kind of excitement, that talk, that kind of intrigue; it made me feel really proud. But yeah, it is Photoshopped.

I like that kind of excitement, that talk, that kind of intrigue; it made me feel really proud.

Laura Williams

It is a mirror and I used a little self-timer remote to take a photo of me sitting down holding the mirror, then I took another picture without me in it, so just the background. I masked that photo on top of the one with me in it, so that the background was in the frame and that filled in the gap and it gave the illusion that I was invisible.

Going Viral

I never thought that that image was ever going to go anywhere. I mean, I took the photo in early summer and then it got to September and I thought, “I’m going to have a little go at editing this one.” And then I did it and I was like, “Oh, this is all right. I’ll post that.” I remember going out and when I got back it had about 2,000 shares on Tumblr and I was like, “Oh, my God. That’s amazing!” And then I refreshed it and it had gone up to 3,000!

I never thought that that image was ever going to go anywhere.

Laura Williams

The Shoot

Where did you shoot it and what equipment did you use?

My back garden. I think I was supposed to be revising for my A-levels and it was a nice day and I thought, “I’m going to go outside and take some photos.”

It was my auntie’s mirror. I had the idea for the photo for a little while and I went by my auntie’s house and she had this mirror. I thought, “Oh, that’s a cool mirror, I like that.” She asked me if I wanted it because it was just lying there and she wasn’t going to do anything with it, and I was like, “Yeah, I might use that for a photo.” So she let me borrow it. I still have it.

I used my old Nikon camera then, a Nikon D5100, not even a full frame, and 50mm 1.8 lens. Pretty basic equipment, nothing too fancy. I spent maybe half an hour, 45 minutes shooting in the back garden. I was just playing around. I didn’t think I was even going to get anything decent from it.

Then in post-processing, I spent a little while, probably four hours. I like to take my time. It has quite a painterly feel that one, like that background, I was trying to make it a bit atmospheric. So I was doing a lot of dodging and burning and messing around and then deleting it and then doing more. Got there in the end.

Camera and Settings

• CameraNikon D5100
• LensNikon AF 50mm f/1.8D
• Settingsf/1.8, 1/1250 sec, ISO 100

Laura’s Invisible photo also led to her being featured in The Flickr Weekly, where she talks about the making of the image and how she likes to create illusions that trick the viewer’s eye.

To see more of Laura’s surreal imagery and follow her work, visit her Flickr and Instagram. And, if you want to try the effect yourself, follow along with PHLEARN’s video tutorial, “How to Create a See Through Frame Effect in Photoshop.”

Common Questions About Laura Williams’ Invisible Photo

Who is Laura Williams? A self-portrait artist known for surreal illusions that trick the viewer’s eye. She made Invisible at 18, in her back garden, on a day when, she says, she was supposed to be revising for her A-levels. How was the Invisible photo made? It is Photoshopped, with a real mirror and two photos. Laura used a little self-timer remote to photograph herself sitting down holding her auntie’s mirror, then took a second frame of just the background. She masked the background frame over the first one, so the garden fills the gap in the mirror and she seems to disappear.

What camera and settings did she use? A Nikon D5100, which is not a full-frame camera, with a 50mm f/1.8 lens, at f/1.8, 1/1250 sec and ISO 100. She calls it pretty basic equipment. The shoot took 30 to 45 minutes; the edit took about four hours, much of it dodging and burning to make the background atmospheric. How did Invisible go viral? She shot it in early summer and only edited and posted it in September. When she came back from going out, it had about 2,000 shares on Tumblr, then 3,000 after a refresh. It went on to the front page of Reddit, and by 2018 it had over 1.1 million views on Flickr.