Sandman's Daughter Optical Illusion

This photo was taken by Jair Ribbeiro, a Brazilian, living in Florence, Italy since 1998. Jair posed the question in his Flickr area:

"Sand sculpture or real woman covered by sand?"

Copyright 2004 Jair Ribbeiro
Used w/permission

Jair had this to say about this photo.

I was walkin' in the Farol da Barra Beach (Bahia Brazil) last August '04 when I saw this ~...~ in the sand.. It was really unbelievable..

So what do you think?

Is it possible that this is a real woman covered in sand? Could this be a woman on the beach that has been photoshopped to provide the sand texture?

Bottom line is if she takes up the family business there will be a lot of men that will suddenly become insomniacs.

Sandman \Sand"man`\, n.
A mythical person who makes children sleepy, so that they rub their eyes as if there were sand in them. [1913 Webster]

Whatever the truth is this is one interesting illusion.