The real clue is in their faces. When you compare their eyes, noses, mouths, and jawlines, it becomes clear that the women are actually the same person repeated several times.
The photograph was created by taking multiple images of the same woman in different positions and combining them into one scene. Before modern editing software, creating an effect like this required careful positioning, repeated exposures, and a great deal of patience.
Once the repeated face is noticed, the entire picture looks different. The illusion shows how easily our brains accept familiar scenes without questioning the details hiding in plain sight.
