There are many types of photograph that fall into the category of the marmalade dropper or the ‘cornflake dropper’. The phrases refer to astonishing pictures, or stories, that cause the reader of her/his morning newspaper to drop the marmalade or cornlflakes in mid-bite. More often than not it is the unexpected nature of the subject matter within the photograph that causes the extreme reaction. There are lots of examples, but the ones that always catch my eye are the photographs that combine luck and skill, resulting in an image that appears both familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time.

By its nature a photograph is two dimensional, and gives the impression of a third dimension through light/shade and perspective. But sometimes the everyday elements within the frame come together to create something unfamiliar, creating, in my view, a fourth dimension in the image, almost an optical illusion, stopping us in our tracks and enticing us to take another look and another.

These photographs are quite rare, because in order to work they have to be perfectly composed. Given the scale and scope of the Reuters picture operation I was able to find three such photographs shot within a 24 hour period.

The first photograph, by Denis Balibouse, shows US golfer Paula Creamer marking her ball in the 14th women’s Golf Masters in France. We immediately recognise what we are looking at, but the more we look the less familiar the image becomes.

The photograph of Barcelona’s Thierry Henry, by David Moir, diving for the ball in Edinburgh makes us look twice as his head appears to be replaced by the ball.

Synchronized swimming always makes striking images, and in this photograph by Daniel Munoz the legs of the U.S. team competing in Rio de Janeiro create an interesting pattern.