Eye Contact in Photography
image by kkelly2007Last week in my post 10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits I talked about ‘Playing with Eye contact’ (point #2) as being one technique to add change the feel of an image.
Today I was flipping through an old photography magazine (called ‘photography focus guide’) and a quote about eye contact in portraits jumped off the page at me:
“Without eye contact, the whole mood of the image changes – the camera is now simply an ‘observer’ and this is a great opportunity to show a subject in a different way.”
I like that quote because it puts words to something I’d been feeling for a while but hadn’t known how to express.
There’s nothing wrong with having your subject look away from the camera (or to have them look down the barrel either) but it does alter the mood and style of your shot. Having it can create real intimacy with the viewer of your shot while not having it can give an image a sense of watching someone without being seen by them. It can almost be a voyeuristic feel.
Do you tend to use eye contact or avoid eye contact in the portraits that you take?
28 Responses to “Eye Contact in Photography” - Add Yours
July 26th, 2008 at 1:12 am
I love catching eyes in my photographs. It adds so much more interest and emotion to the shot. Color and detail of the eye are interesting as well. As they say, the eye is “the window to the soul”
July 26th, 2008 at 1:12 am
It depends on what kind of mood i am in, mixed with who my subject is.
July 26th, 2008 at 1:17 am
I get right into their faces, sometimes. I fill the frame with the head, focusing sometimes on the bridge of the nose. No cropping. People are sometimes intimidated. The women giggle and the men stiffen. Like to see sweat and lines.
July 26th, 2008 at 1:20 am
I’ll go both. But in the end it’s really up to my mood and the style that is trying to be achieved in the shoot.
July 26th, 2008 at 1:26 am
for portraits I like the eye contact. I’m not really a portrait photographer, I’m more of a nature & outdoor photographer.
http://www.petelanglois.net
July 26th, 2008 at 1:46 am
I don’t want to be you know, the person to leave annoying comments, but does anyone else feel that there are many beautiful pictures on this website, and this is not one of them?
July 26th, 2008 at 2:21 am
Christina, I would say that this is slightly over processed for my liking indeed.
As for eye contact, as Kennedy said, it totally depends on what you’re trying to capture? I did a self portrait where my eyes were the main focus and it really added to it, but another portrait where my subject was smiling so much that her eyes were closed. They both work on their own.
July 26th, 2008 at 2:30 am
I think that it depends on what you are trying to convey in terms of mood and style of the image. In the article below about the Mona Lisa eye contact is one of the things that makes the painting really powerful.
July 26th, 2008 at 4:20 am
Nearly every portrait I make has full-on, “down the barrel” eye contact. And this post may have helped me understand why.
I shoot casually and often there are several people in the studio during a session – lots of conversation, etc. Some of this conversation is of course between the subject and someone off camera. Naturally, the subject will turn to face the person they are speaking with. When this happens, I instinctively stop shooting. I still frame images and often think “wow, that’s a cool shot…,†but I never trip the shutter until they turn back to me. Why?
The suggestion (and it’s a correct suggestion I believe) that portraits of a person looking off-camera have a voyeuristic feel to them is something I never thought about before. But now that I consider it, it’s a near perfect theory to explain my behavior. I actually *feel* like a voyeur without eye contact, which feels somehow weird and bad – like something I shouldn’t be doing.
Wonder if anyone else feels like this? May explain too why I feel so uneasy shooting events or people on the street w/o their consent.
Thanks for the post!
July 26th, 2008 at 6:41 am
It largely depends on what I’m trying to achieve. Sometimes I make my subjects look directly at the camera, other times I ask them to look away.
And in regards to the photo used for the post, actually I think it’s gorgeous. It explains the whole point of drawing the viewer’s eye into the eyes of the subject. I also like the composition. It’s beautiful and mysterious at the same time.
July 26th, 2008 at 8:27 am
I prefer eye contact; it usually is more interesting and engaging to me. I don’t think the photo in this article is using eye contact, since the lady has a blank stare. She’s not connecting with the viewer at all. That can be good too, though.
July 26th, 2008 at 10:07 am
This question brings us all back to the one thing that is most important in every photo you take, and that is, what feeling or emotion am I tring to share in this picture. Wiether you use eye contact or not is solely dependent on what type of feeling you want in the shot. Search for that feeling that moves you when you take the picture and it will help you decide which way you want to go.
July 26th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
I agree with Christina & Bob – the picture used as an example for this post isn’t necessarily an example of great eye contact… In fact, the picture has an almost distracting effect instead of attracting us to it.
I also completely agree with all of you who have said that it totally depends on the mood & emotion you’re aiming to capture. Very, very rarely will I just tell someone to look straight into the camera, posed and with a certain ‘look’. It hardly ever turns out looking the way I’d like… That’s just my opinion though. I enjoy really natural, unposed photos; I like to capture the person the way they are in real life! Almost as if just by looking at the snapshot, you feel as if you could know them.
There’s only one picture I could find that I did a pretty good job of getting nice eye contact… And it was practically an accident. I was taking a few pics of my sis last year after a wedding she was in, and she definitely wasn’t ready for this shot: Striking Beauty
Ultimately, good eye contact depends on both the subject & photographer.
July 26th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
two of my favorite portraits are of a woman about 75 yrs old with a wonderfully lined and creased face and brilliant blue eyes. in one, she’s looking at me. in the other, i told her to remember something in her past, when she was about 20-30. Because of the subject’s looks, and the faraway look in her eyes, the portrait looks stunning – like she’s remembering a lost love, or something bittersweet. I love it. However, i also love the one looking right at me – her eyes are remarkably clear for her age,and full of knowledge.
July 26th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I agree that it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish with the picture. I find that when out with friends just taking shots when nobody is paying attention can capture very candid and potentially better shots than having them pose or look at the camera.
July 27th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Never shoot until you can see the whites of their eyes!!!!
July 27th, 2008 at 1:39 am
I want to add that eye contact also works for wildlife and pet photography. Often the most impressing shots of animals are when the animal looks right at the photographer.
July 27th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Thanks for your interesting tute.
It’s not a contest between candid or direct portrature. There are plenty of examples of memorable (and bad!) photographic portraiture which uses both styles on Flickr.
The image of the girl above is great, imo.
July 27th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I tend to avoid eye contact. I think it makes photographs more “mysterious”.
July 27th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
I totaly agree with you. I like some photojournalist style… but I love when I can work and direct the subject and capture the attention of my viewers.
Great post.
Paulo Jordao
July 28th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
It really does depend what you are trying to create from the picture.
In most cases I usually shoot without getting eye contact. I like to be that fly on the wall. You get un-posed photos that are far more realistic.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:24 am
I read your articles every day and love them. Recently, when I click and open a new window, it does not open on top but BEHIND all open windows. This has been going on for about the last week.
Just thought you should know.
Jack Sadler
July 29th, 2008 at 4:29 am
I’m an observer in life and so most of my photos are like that. But there are those moments, depending on the subject and their surroundings, when I feel the need for eye contact.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
I don’t like the example photo, it is scary LOL, over processed and possessed but that’s just my personal opinion of course. Sometimes I like the eye contact, sometimes I love the lack of it!
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:53 am
Throwing in my own two cents… The factor that I find redeeming in the photo with this thread is that it illustrated great detail in the subjects eyes (the eyeliner was an aesthetically pleasing touch as well) as opposed to a shoddy red eye effect or the oh-so-bad-timed blinking/lazy eye.
If anything, thanks for creating the discussion and letting people think outside the box.
August 4th, 2008 at 8:52 am
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3043/2729804598_da749e384b_b.jpg
these are the Eyes that I love!!!
August 4th, 2008 at 8:55 am
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3043/2729804598_da749e384b_b.jpg
these are the Eyes that I love!!!
http://flickr.com/photos/nedyalko/sets/72157606411909605/
September 10th, 2008 at 11:50 am
I agree with Kim, portraits taken without eye contact, especially if the person is looking wistful, ie as if deep in thought are so much more beautiful and mysterious than those with direct eye contact. My most successful portrait is of my daughter looking through a window dreamily..I had asked her not to look at me. It leaves the viewer to wonder what her thoughts are and gives a much deeper emotional feel to the photo, especially if there is good DOF and it is black/white.
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