How to Look at Eye Colour – Studies in Visual Cultures

Gerard, Baker. “BURNING QUESTION: Can eye colour change?” Linkedin, Wall Street Journal, 29 Apr. 2014, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140429123005-80735812-the-10-point-bofa-s-blunder-pfizer-for-the-prize-the-science-behind-eye-color-and-more?articleId=7378974486802991175#comments-7378974486802991175&trk=sushi_topic_posts_guest

Eyes are one of the first things people notice and they have the ability to reveal our inner emotions. No two people have the exact same irises. Each person has different lines, dots, and colours that when you look into them, examining thoroughly every little detail, it is as if you are uncovering a person’s deepest secrets. The eyes expose a person. The eyes also have the power to reveal the world around us. Staring intently into blue eyes you see the clearest tranquil waters or the forest trees illuminating after it rains while looking into green eyes. Falling in love, because you are getting lost in the world a person’s eyes project.

The science behind eye colour:

The pigmentation of the eye’s iris depends on the genetic material each parent carries to their child. If both parents have brown eyes, the likelihood their child is born with brown eyes is high. Nonetheless, this does not dismiss the possibility that a child can have a different eye colour than their parents. An individual’s eye colour ranges from light to dark based on how much melanin the iris contains. Browner eyes appear when there is a higher percentage of melanin, whereas, a lighter pigmentation appears when the light fails to absorbs and instead scatters, reflecting back to the eye (MacDonald 2014).

Blue eyes are the most fascinating and draw the most attention when face to face with someone who has them. Because the colour of our eyes depends on the amount of light absorbed, when no light being absorbed there is no pigment being produced, speculating if blue eyes are in fact, colourless. A similar process happens as a result for green eyes. However, green eyes carry more melanin than blue eyes, so, while some light is being absorbed into the eyes, a darker pigmentation is visible (MacDonald 2014). This would be like combining a brown and blue hue together. In the image the top row depicts a high concentration of melanin and the bottom row depicts low concentration of melanin.

What the colour of our eyes reveals:

The colour of our eyes are interesting and greatly admired for its beauty and although human beings may sometimes fight the urge to hide their emotions, the eyes will always tell the truth. The possibility of your eye colour changing drastically is unlikely because of your genetic makeup; however, emotion can cause the eye pigments to compress changing the eye colour moderately. The pupil dilates and contracts; being tense or angry expands the pupil and hides the pigmentation making your eyes appear darker, and crying releases a reddish tone that contrasts your original eye colour and lightens the eyes (Healtreatcure).

The next time you are engaging in conversation with someone, pay close attention to their eyes because you might discover something you would never have learned just by talking to them. Even though we stare into other people’s eyes and adore the outer layer that is visible, we can now, understand the depth underneath that layer and gain a new perspective of the human body.

WORKS CITED

Baker, Gerard. “BURNING QUESTION: Can eye colour change?” Linkedin, Wall Street Journal, 29 Apr. 2014

Elkins, James. How to Use Your Eyes. Routledge, 2000

MacDonald, Fiona. “This is how blue eyes get their colour” Linkedin, 20, Dec. 2014.

Healtreatcure. “Why do Eyes Change Colour with Moods, Emptions, Age and Season” Health & Fitness.

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