Infinite photos? how do they work?

Question

when you see a picture, and in that picture you see the same picture, and the picture constantly repeats itself in the photo. how do they get the original picture to start the chain?

i tried to find an example online but i couldnt

Answer 1

It's called "infinite regression".

Are you referring to an actual example?  All you do is take a picture, scale it down, and place it somewhere inside itself, then repeat the process on that smaller picture.

Answer 2

They aren't really infinite - sooner or later the resolution of the image is too low to show any more repeats of the image.

To make one, set up a scene to photograph, and then put a camera on a tripod. For this example, let's say you're making a book jacket that has a picture of a desk with the very same book sitting on the desk, and that book on the desk has the same jacket, etc, down to "infinity."

So you'd put the book on the desk, with a blank space where the photo will go, and then Snap the photo. Print it out (or use a polaroid and let it develop.) Place the photo on the book where the picture belongs in the jacket, and re-snap your photo. Develop/print that one, and replace the photo on the book with the second one. Resnap, redevelop, replace photo, and keep repeating until you can no longer see the original image where the book has no picture on its cover.

It should only take about 4 repeats before the original is too small to see.

Answer 3

its not the photo... its your brain.

you see, in art the idea is more important than the reality.  In these types of photos, you actually DON'T see "the picture constantly repeats"... what you do see is what the artist wants you to see.  Your mind fills in the blanks and creates the infinite repetition.

Answer 4

They are the same photo repeated over and over.  It is easy for me to think about it, but it is hard for me to explain it.