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Imagine you drive around a corner one day, and suddenly find yourself behind this Phillips Brewing Company delivery truck, out-and-about on it's rounds delivering beer kegs. Maybe you see the back door, and just for a moment worry your going to have an impromptu kegger party. This a great example of Trompe-l'œil (French for "deceive the eye"); essentially trick painting using the laws of perspective and extreme realism to create the illusion of three-dimensional space on flat surfaces. While it was used in ancient murals, it is associated with the technical innovations of the Renaissance art movements that swept across Europe between the 14th-, and 17th-Centuries -- gabble, gabble, gabble -- I think it's cool.

So cool, in fact, I've been trying to get a photo for some months, with no success. Today I saw the truck on West Broadway, and did my best to stay with it. I caught up on a side street. and waited till the driver had removed the load of kegs he was delivering. Unfortunately, he'd left the door partially open, but I planned to wait. As I set myself to take a shot as it was, I heard a, "Hey!," from across the street, and then repeated, "Hey!" I turned to look. It was the driver -- "that'll be ten dollars!" I laughed -- he might have been serious, but he wasn't. I yelled to him that I wanted a shot of the door fully closed -- when was he coming back? "Do it yourself," he cheerfully yelled back. So I did. Click on the images to enlarge them.

[caption id="attachment_6524" align="alignnone" width="497"] Compared to the back, the sides are only excellent.[/caption]