Invisible Man meets the Seven Wonders in amazing pictures by body art genius

It is the most extreme version of hide and seek you're ever likely to see... or not see.

Look carefully at these incredible photographs of famous landmarks and you'll spot a human figure merging with the background.

The remarkable effect is achieved not by computer trickery, but by 35-year-old American artist Trina Merry meticulously applying body paint to a model so he blends in with his familiar surroundings.

Shots such as these at the Colosseum in Rome and the Great Wall of China, both named among the United Nations' New 7 Wonders of the World in 2007, take up to eight hours to set up.

And while you might think it's just a clever and fun illusion, Ms Merry explains it in much artier terms.

'The ephemeral nature of body paint forces focus and reflects on the reality of existence,' she claims, grandly.

Trina Merry (pictured) is known for her body paint art. She started with a female model and is now working with a male one.

She has certainly built up quite a reputation since adopting her trademark body paint technique in 2006.

Ms Merry first attracted attention by painting female subjects so that they blended in with the landmarks of her native New York.

Last year she used locations in Britain and Ireland – including Stonehenge, Westminster Abbey and Blarney Castle – for more of her distinctive images.

Earlier this year, she transformed the bodies of volunteers into stunning representations of all 12 signs of the zodiac, from a scorpion to a crab.