The “Eyes” Have it: An Examination of Feature-Centering in Photographic Portraiture

Abstract

Relative to other features, the human eye is consistently placed in the center of history's successful oil painting portraits (Tyler, 1998). In the present study, I examined whether this phenomenon generalizes to the medium of photography, and whether this phenomenon is dependent upon the rotation or placement of the head. Results reveal a clear hierarchy of feature-centering dominance: The eye is consistently placed at the center-most position of the frame, followed by the nose-bridge, nose-tip, ear, and hand. Further, regression analyses reveal that the predictive strength of the horizontal center decreases as the pictured subject's head rotation approximates the classic 3/4 pose. The eye is found most frequently at the center of the frame when the head is in a fully front-facing pose. Possible explanations for this cross-historical, cross-medium compositional tendency are discussed.