Aversion to eye contact and photographs

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On the subject of people who are ASD being uncomfortable with eye contact, I am curious about portraits of people where the subject was looking straight into the lens of the camera when the photograph was taken. When I look at such a photograph it has the appearance to me of making eye contact with the subject in the photo. I am curious if doing this makes auties and aspies uncomfortable also.

The reason I am curious about this is because when I look at this kind of photograph, if the subject of the photo is still alive, I often feel the person in the photo almost as if I was looking at the real person. Plus I often perceive more about a person from their photo than from seeing the real thing, like for instance, when I look at a portrait of a person who is extroverted, it will feel like they are carrying their essence out in front of them, where photos of introverts often feel like their eyes are open pathways that flow deep into their being.

Please don't assume that my experiences are typical of people who are NT. To date, I have never been told when I am brave enough to share my experiences with someone IRL, that they experience the same thing. Others responses have always been something like, "All I see is a picture of a beautiful young woman." or whatever. I'm just curious. What do you experience when you make eye contact with someone in a photograph?

Unless you already know the person in the picture, how would you know they were introverted or extroverted?

I find myself drawn to the eyes of a photograph, sketch or painting that appears to look right at you. Quite the opposite to talking to someone face to face.. my daughter draws manga and portraits which always seem to stare directly at you where ever you go in the room. In the manga the eyes are exaggerated and larger than reality, but its her realistic portraits that really fixate me.

Intuition often comes with an 'inner knowing' attribute that says, "This is truth" and it just knows, but my logical side wants to test my intuition's perceptions anyway, particularly things like this, so I can tell a challenger how I validated my perceptions, and because I want my perceptions to really be true when I act upon them. I started with people that I did know, and had their photo, and the photos of people that I did know were extroverts either because they told me their MBTI type, and/or I observed it in them, and in their photo I experienced what I call kinesthetic image, because the image is felt, not seen, and the image was felt out in front of them in the photo. Also when participating with online forums, I tested my perceptions when people would post their photos on the forum, and sometimes freak some people out with my accuracy, and I learned from my mistakes when I was wrong.

I'll never forget on one occasion online, a young Philippine woman posted several photos of herself posed with various college friends, and from her eyes I could see she was introverted, but we were on an INFP forum so what would it accomplish to say I observed that? However I also observed another pattern, that in all of her photographs she was standing in the middle of the group that was posing, and my intuition says to me,"That is because she grew up as a middle child", so I took a risk and among a bunch of replies on how cute she looked in her photos, I posted, "I see you are very versed on the advantages and drawbacks of growing up as a middle child." and she replied, "Who are you? Do I know you? Your profile says you live in Texas, but I don't think I believe you. Are you stalking me?"

I don't like to look at the eyes of humans in photographs. I know it's silly, but I feel as if I am being stared at. I did Rosetta Stone in 9th or 10th grade for Spanish; and when it was time to learn the Spainish word for eye it showed a close up of a human eye. I cringed everytime and I think that was part of the reason I quit Spanish. I remeber hearing about certian Native American tribes who hted having their photo taken becuase they felt it stole a part of their soul. I wonder if it's because they felt like they were being stared at in photographs too. I personaly don't even like to look at the eyes of cartoons, no matter how silly or exgerated they are. My avatar is diffrent because Timon is an animal. I have no problem looking at the eyes of animals whether they are alive or just a picture.

I guess I would think of the person in a photo as extroverted if they have one of those beaming smiles and I would think of the person as introverted if they had a more pensive look to their eyes.

Looking into the eyes of a photo doesn't make me uncomfortable. The discomfort of looking into someone's eye's face to face is mainly due to the distraction factor. If someone asks me a question I have to look away in order to answer because the eyes will freeze up my mind.

I don't like eye contact because I feel I am being stared down. Why are humans the only species that dosen't find eye contact a direct threat. Even our supposed closest relatives, chimpanzees, don't like eye contact.

I don't feel like I see the person's essense, but I find these types of photos very striking, especially in black and white. They're the kind of things that inspire me to draw. It doesn't make me uncomfortable when the person is looking directly at the camera. I don't think of it as eye contact, because the person isn't actually looking at me, they're looking at the lens, and there's no pressure for me to look at their eyes.

I enjoy looking into the eyes of a photographed person because it's the only way I can look into eyes. Joining WrongPlanet has made me more aware of this issue, and the fact that people may be looking at me even though I'm not looking at them. I had fallen into the assumption that in a temporary, perfunctory relationship--customer-cashier, say--no looking is done on either side. Just this morning I decided to test my theory in the supermarket. I boldly lifted my eyes from the change and well, wrong again!

Last edited by the_curmudge on 17 Oct 2010, 5:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Eye contact generally is a strange thing with me...
I like cats because you can look them into the eyes without them being bothered by it. With dogs I've got little problems because I want to make eye contact with them although I know that they understand it as a threat.

When I see random people in the street I look them into the eyes just out of curiosity.
When I talk to people, however, I only make eye contact if I remember that I'm supposed to do so. I don't like to look into people's eyes for a long time.

And about photographs: If there's a photograph of a human (looking into the general direction of the camera) in my room and I need to change my clothes, I turn that photograph around. I also do that when I eat. Or if I just want to relax in peace...
It feels pretty much as if a real person stared at me, and thus it drives me insane.

It is in these kinds of encounters that I am watching the other person most intensely, to see how or if I am being understood, and or accepted. I can usually perceive these things from their facial expression, and from their eyes, and I do it more then because I don't know the person. I don't have to watch people's eyes and expressions as much if I know them well. Unfortunately, however, folks still take offense when I don't.

omg i did this as a child and mom thought it was weird. Now i dont keep photos in my room because i feel like theyre watching me.

I was always told that eye contact was very very important.
I always felt uncomfortable making eye contact, though, so i kind of hide inside my head when im making eye contact.... because eye contact feels so draining and personal. It gets me into trouble sometimes, because i cant focus on making eye contact while i am listening to instructions. so i miss out on instructions.
What i have tried to do instead of making eye contact is writing notes while the person is talking..... this was sometimes a problem, though, when the teacher demanded eye contact.

Olive Oyl did that in an episode of Popeye.....and there was a photo of the back of Popeye's head on the back of the frame.

I don't seem to have much trouble distinguishing photos from real people. I might momentarily feel as if a photo is watching me, but that doesn't last long. "Eye contact" is less of a problem with photos because I'm confident that it's not a real person and so doesn't have the same risks associated with it......I can't get it wrong or offend a photo. Couldn't easily damage a teddy bear deliberately though, even though I know it's only a bit of cloth and stuffing.