Photomanipulation Droste effect

Collage of photographs showing examples of Photomanipulation Droste effect

Photomanipulation Droste effect
Named after the image on the tins and boxes of Droste cocoa powder, one of the main Dutch brands. Meanwhile, the image of the brand – a nurse carrying a serving tray with a cup of hot chocolate and a box with the same image. Reportedly, poet and columnist Nico Scheepmaker introduced wider usage of the term in the late 1970s.
However, the first who used The Droste effect was Giotto di Bondone. In particular, in 1320, in his Stefaneschi Triptych. The polyptych altarpiece portrays in its center panel Cardinal Giacomo Gaetani Stefaneschi offering the triptych itself to St. Peter.

In the last century known “pioneers” can be considered Pink Floyd, this technique was used to design a cover of his album «Ummagumma»

In fact, the Droste effect is a specific kind of recursive picture, one that in heraldry termed mise en abyme. An image exhibiting the Droste effect depicts a smaller version of itself in a place where a similar picture would realistically be expected to appear. This smaller version then depicts an even smaller version of itself in the same place, and so on. Now it is a whole new trend in photography. Meanwhile, to create these images photographer used various image editors, and the old fashioned way – you can simply use a mirror.