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Pete Andrews
3-Aug-2001, 08:41
This may not be the proper forum for this question, but there isn't a section ca lled "Crackpot theories vaguely connected with photography". ;^)

OK. Here goes .The theory that the right hemisphere of the brain is devoted to visual proc essing and creativity, while the left deals with language and logic, now seems t o be a pretty well established fact. It's also a physical fact that the left eye is connected directly to the creative right side of the brain, and vice versa.< br>Now, the author of a book I'm currently reading, suggests that, because of th is direct connection from the left-eye to the right-brain; using the left eye sh ould result in more awareness of aesthetics, composition, colour, etc.I'm na turally right-eyed, so I'm going to see if my pictures improve by deliberately v iewing with my non-dominant left eye.

Anyway, I'd like to know if anyone else has tried this, and whether you know if any study has shown that naturally left- eyed photographers or artists make more creative and stunning pictures?Furth er; if you consider yourself a creative genius, are you left-eyed?[Simple te st for which is your dominant eye: Hold your finger at arms length, and with bot h eyes open, line it up with an object in the distance. Now close one eye. If th e finger and object stay in line, then you've still got your dominant eye open. If the finger seems to jump out of line, then you've just closed your dominant e ye.]

Before you send round the guys in white coats. Yes, I do need a holiday, and I'll be taking one, as of tomorrow.

Joe Lipka
3-Aug-2001, 08:52
Stateside it's so early I have trouble getting either eye open. I am right handed and left eyed (I believe the official title for this is cross dominant vision). The only problem with this inherited feature is with an SLR or rangefinder camera. Before auto winders I had to be careful not to put my right thumb in my eye to advance the film. Maybe that was the reason I went to large format 8)

So, virtually every photograph I have made has been with my left eye. And as with all photographers, 99% of them are forgettable.

Have a pleasant holiday.

Scott Bacon
3-Aug-2001, 09:46
I certainly don't fit into the "creative genius" category, but I am left-eyed (and right-handed). There have been a few similar discussions in the photo.net general forums, see "Hand vs. Eye Dominance among photographers". It seems that a majority of photographers are left-eyed, though a discussion forum doesn't exactly meet the rigor of a scientific study. :-)

Brian Ellis
3-Aug-2001, 10:35
I'm left eye dominant, right handed. I used to use my left eye for viewing with small amd medium format cameras, then I had a left eye injury so I switched to using my right eye. I seem capable of making just as many mediocre photographs using my right eye as I did when I used my left eye.

Richard Boulware
3-Aug-2001, 10:51
As a professional of forty years and having a fine formal education in photography, I thought I would pass along a few comments on this very refreshing question...from my own experiene and from many famous professionals I know and have worked with over the years. Fine pictures are not created with the eyes. They are created in the mind, before the shutter trips. Amateurs 'take' pictures....professionals 'make' pictures. Eyes just send data to the brain where the creative decision is made to create, or not. What you decide to shoot is just as important as how you might shoot it. Deciding to not photograph something, is also a creative process decision. If you don't have 'something to say'...it will be hard to create something meaningful. Getting past the technology aspect of photography is one of the most difficult aspects to consider on the road to making fine photographs. It is only when our equipment and technique is mastered and then put aside....can we proceed on...to thinking about what makes a fine photograph...and begin that final part of the creative process. Great photographers are often offended when an admirer ask them what kind of equipment they used to make the shot. They are interested in the final, end image,...not the road may or equipment they used to get to their final destination..the photograph.

Mike Mahoney
3-Aug-2001, 11:09
Never really thought about this as an "eye" thing - I usually leave the actual camera setup until after I have the composition already in my mind. it's about 80% working without the camera finding the right composition, with both eyes open, then the remaining 20% with the camera working out focus, movements, metering, etc. I've always assumed this was the way most photographers did it - but I'll check out the "eye" theory later today - enjoy your vacation.

Graeme
3-Aug-2001, 12:11
Foiled by physiology! In just about every aspect of our physiology, one side of the body is controlled by the other side of the brain. In a cruel twist that severely hampers this particular crack-pot theory, the eye is controlled by the side of the brain that it is found on. I too thought that this might be the source of my brilliant compositional abilities, until a physiologist pointed this out to me. He also let me know that I have delusions of granduer. Yes, I am right handed and left eyed, and no I am not brilliant (I've got to say this - my wife is watching me type)

Graeme

dave bulmer
3-Aug-2001, 12:48
Hi Pete, I had noticed that when composing with my non-dominant left eye, I tend to compose with lots of interest in the foreground. With my right eye, I concentrate on things in the distance. Don't know what this may or may not mean, but as I am also going on holiday next week, if you see a short, cross-eyed photographer on the Norfolk coastline struggling with tilts and shifts, I'll buy you that pint I keep promising. Dave.

George Nedleman
3-Aug-2001, 13:54
Pete; I'm surprised some anatomicaly aware guys have not chimed in with the fact that the left eye is not totally connected with the right side of the cortex. 1/2 of the left optic nerve, as it enters the Optic Chiasma, goes to the left side as does 1/2 of the right nerve. Sorry to shot down the theory. This is from Dental School Anatomy/Physiology 1952, but I think it's correct.

chris jordan
3-Aug-2001, 14:05
i've always noticed, when looking through a 35mm camera, that my eyes have quite different senses of balance. if i compose with my right eye, the image frequently looks out of balance when wviewed with the left eye, and vice versa. when shooting with 35mm i always make sure to look with both eyes until i get an image that satisfies both eyes.

but, of course, a view camera lets us compose with both eyes at once, which to me is one of its great attributes.

~cj

www.chrisjordanphoto.com

Jonathan Brewer
3-Aug-2001, 14:55
Well let me think, I'm dominant with my right eye, hear mostly with my left ear, I'm left handed, my right armpit itches more than my left, and most of the time I sit on my right buttock.

Maybe if I wiggle the toes on my left foot while I rub my right kneecap with my left arm when I fire the shutter, it'll improve my pics.

On the days that I forget to use my deodorant, I seem to go from people photographer to landscape photographer. Maybe if I just use deodorant on my right armpit it'll get people on the side where my dominant eye is.

By the way, Ray Charles is a creative genius, so which eye is he using? I typed this with both eyes closed.

Ciao

David Willis
3-Aug-2001, 16:55
When I read this, I tried to recall my neuroanatomy. It's been more recent than George, but still far enough away to be a bit hazy. But I think George is right.

The control of the eyes by the same hemisphere refers, as I recall, to the nerves controlling the muscles that move the eyes (cranial nerves III, IV, VI).

Check out

http://psych.athabascau.ca/html/Psych289/Biotutorials/11/part1.html

for a picture of how it works.

Dave

Dave

Jim Galli
3-Aug-2001, 17:00
I've been nearly blind in my left eye since childhood. Without my pemission, my body has compensated by using my right eye for almost everything. I can read with my left, but not on a CRT. So if I make a good photograph I chock it up to seeing like a camera does. Even though I'm close enough to see clearly on the ground glass with either eye, subconsciously my right eye takes over.

Robb Reed
3-Aug-2001, 18:18
Pete...

Optic nerves from each eye project into each hemisphere in the occipital lobes. The optic nerve from each eye crosses over into the contralateral hemisphere at the optic chiasm. The eye is for neurologic purposes a hemisphere itself that is divided into left, right, upper and lower quadrants. Each quadrant has representation in the occipital lobes. The processing of basic sensory information may be performed in varios other areas of the cortex...the projections from the occipiatl lobes lead in many directions. Whether and what the "right hemisphere" of the brain has to do with composing an image is complicated beyond the simple notions of right brain dominance over non-verbal function...

Yours,

Robb Reed

Chad Jarvis
3-Aug-2001, 20:22
Yet another otherwise fine mind ruined by psychology.

Greg Pratt
4-Aug-2001, 13:44
i've always noticed, when looking through a 35mm camera, that my eyes have quite different senses of balance. -- chris jordan August 03, 2001. I have noticed the same thing. I thought it was me, for I hate 35mm. Not for it's mechanical perfection but my problems with viewing. My right eye seems to cast the subject to the left a tad. In the studio this shift amounted to 1/2 inch on 5x7 print. The left seemed to be consistently better although not as sharp. Oh well, back to the ground glass.

Pete Andrews
13-Aug-2001, 06:27
Thanks guys! I've enjoyed my holiday immensely, and my critical reasoning has returned to its normal, and amusedly cynical, level. In other words, I can now laugh heartily at my previous gullibility.

My own knowledge of physiology is sketchy, and I was taking for granted the information that was put forward in the book I was reading. Since it was written by a Cambridge professor (albeit of Physics), I thought he might know what he was talking about. Apparently not.The whole thing is based on some research which tends to show that human females are statistically 'prettier' (a very un-PC choice of words, I know, perhaps the word 'attractive' might be better) on the right side of their face.This gives rise to the theory that the collective male left-eye is the one that judges female aesthetic.Or, (my own theory, and more likely, IMHO) the right side of the face gets more exercise, and so has better muscle tone.

Anyway, be all that as it may, I did try the left eye thing for my holiday snaps, and it did seem to give a slightly different 'perspective' on things. However, since the pictures weren't a ha'p'orth (colloquialism for 'halfpenny-worth') better, I don't think I'm going to be making a concious effort to change eyes.I'll be a bit more critical of crackpot theories in future. Thanks again, especially to those of you with a better knowledge of physiology and anatomy.

Kerosene Hat
14-Jan-2018, 11:49
Stateside it's so early I have trouble getting either eye open. I am right handed and left eyed (I believe the official title for this is cross dominant vision). The only problem with this inherited feature is with an SLR or rangefinder camera. Before auto winders I had to be careful not to put my right thumb in my eye to advance the film. Maybe that was the reason I went to large format 8)

So, virtually every photograph I have made has been with my left eye. And as with all photographers, 99% of them are forgettable.

Have a pleasant holiday.


Same thing with me. Eat and play billiards lefty, otherwise right-handed and left-eyed. I can't say I've ever felt at a creative advantage for that purpose, lol. At least LF slows down the rate at which one can make forgettable images. :)

Drew Wiley
15-Jan-2018, 20:30
There's any easy way to solve this. Just survey those photographers who also happen to be pirates. They often have one eye patched.

Jac@stafford.net
15-Jan-2018, 20:38
There's any easy way to solve this. Just survey those photographers who also happen to be pirates. They often have one eye patched.

Captain itchy-eye's story

Sailor: So, Captain, how is it you have a hook for a hand?
Captain: Aye, t'was when the Great Whale bit it off!
Sailor: And the eye patch?
Captain: Yay, t'was the first day of getting the hook.

Paul Kinzer
17-Jan-2018, 19:17
This may not be the proper forum for this question, but there isn't a section ca lled "Crackpot theories vaguely connected with photography". ;^)

OK. Here goes .The theory that the right hemisphere of the brain is devoted to visual proc essing and creativity, while the left deals with language and logic, now seems t o be a pretty well established fact. It's also a physical fact that the left eye is connected directly to the creative right side of the brain, and vice versa.< br>Now, the author of a book I'm currently reading, suggests that, because of th is direct connection from the left-eye to the right-brain; using the left eye sh ould result in more awareness of aesthetics, composition, colour, etc.I'm na turally right-eyed, so I'm going to see if my pictures improve by deliberately v iewing with my non-dominant left eye.

Anyway, I'd like to know if anyone else has tried this, and whether you know if any study has shown that naturally left- eyed photographers or artists make more creative and stunning pictures?Furth er; if you consider yourself a creative genius, are you left-eyed?[Simple te st for which is your dominant eye: Hold your finger at arms length, and with bot h eyes open, line it up with an object in the distance. Now close one eye. If th e finger and object stay in line, then you've still got your dominant eye open. If the finger seems to jump out of line, then you've just closed your dominant e ye.]

Before you send round the guys in white coats. Yes, I do need a holiday, and I'll be taking one, as of tomorrow.

Funny timing, but I was just reading an educational newsletter today that included an article which said that the long-expressed ideas about left/right brain, language/logic/creativity has been determined to be way overblown, if not entirely bogus. As a totally-left-dominated, logical creative person (only written somewhat tongue-in-cheek), I've always been somewhat wary of the whole idea. I'm a firm believer in the idea of brains being extremely plastic, and of individual differences being more important than group similarities when it comes to al sorts of things, from intelligence to gender differences.

That said, there are clearly physiological pathways that are obviously real and the same in all, or at least the vast majority, of us. Thanks for the reminders about the fascinating connections between the eyes and the brain! I have a brother who suffered brain damage after a car accident. He needed therapy to get his eyes to match his perceptions again, or vice versa, or both, or something. It was hard enough, I'm sure, for him to understand. His explanations were baffling!

LabRat
17-Jan-2018, 20:06
Captain itchy-eye's story

Sailor: So, Captain, how is it you have a hook for a hand?
Captain: Aye, t'was when the Great Whale bit it off!
Sailor: And the eye patch?
Captain: Yay, t'was the first day of getting the hook.

So you think that's bad, a pirate walks in a bar, and the bartender sees a ship's wheel stuck in the old tar's crouch... The keeper yells "what happened to you!?!!! But the pirate says; "It's driving me nuts"...

But for the eye thing, walk around for a few minutes with one eye covered, then the other, and ask yourself which you could live with if only one... Granted, you would adapt, but...

Steve K

ridax
7-Feb-2018, 05:27
I do not have a dominant eye at all. Mine are 'equal in rank', and when focusing on a distant object, I always see two defocused close-up fingers at once.

I am right-handed, and I used to compose my small format shots with my right eye just according to the common tradition (and yes a lot of cameras are awkward to use the other way). When I got aware of the above theory, I tried switching my eyes. I never use my right eye for composing since that very day.

I don't know if the theory is a wise one or a pure bullsh*t. I just don't have any background in that science. And I actually don't care. Theories come and go but my own practice speaks for itself - for me, of course.


My right eye seems to cast the subject to the left a tad. In the studio this shift amounted to 1/2 inch on 5x7 print. The left seemed to be consistently better although not as sharp.

Same here.... even to the extent of having technically better eyesight with my right eye.

Drew Bedo
11-Feb-2018, 20:00
Maybe it is true. My eyesight deteriorated in 2003. The right eye is blind and the left eye is just bad. My photography changed too . . .for the better I think; everthing became sinpler, more graphic.. ,. . .so maybe the left eye thing works.

jeanba3000
8-Mar-2018, 16:10
Hi
I apologize if my thought are not very well expressed, I'm french and my english is far from perfect.

I just read this thread and wasn't surprised that the "creative left eye" theory would be false.

Maybe the lateralization in creativity could emerge in other aspects, maybe it's not about which eye is better, but more about the final image formed by our brain and the transcription we express when drawing or shooting…

I have two anecdotes from my graphic design studies years to tell that I find interesting to think about :

During nude model sketching class, in order to push our limits, break bad sketching habits and force us to be really attentive to the details of the model and to what we were drawing, our teacher asked us regularly to change tool, paper size… (for example : if you are at ease with pencil then try with a brush and ink, if you are at ease sitting with a tabloid size paper bloc on your lap then work upright with a larger paper on an easel, etc.) and especially to change hand and draw with our other hand, even with two hands at the same time.
Very interesting experience, but after a while you get new drawing bad habits so you change hand again, and so on…

The second anecdote was with an illustration teacher who told us when you compose an illustration, observe the drawing reversed in a mirror, you might find that the composition is better in the reflection…

Nearly 30 years later, I still do nude sketching to exercise my observation skills and hand dexterity, and I still reverse my photos to see if they might be better the other side, and they sometime are, even when shot with my Rolleiflex. :-)

In that way, the turned view on the ground glass of our LF cameras can be considered as a help to better compose by letting us focus more on the abstraction of the composition and less on the obviousness of our subject. I think it has something to deal with Georg Baselitz's figurative paintings.

Randy
10-Mar-2018, 15:33
I am right handed, but for as long as I can remember I have used my left eye to focus and compose, both viewfinder cameras and large format. I shoot a rifle left-handed, but I think that is due to breaking my left arm when very young and having limited movement in it.

I was first exposed to this right-left brain thing many years ago when reading one of Fred Pickers Zone VI news letters - he was discussing the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" and how he believed some of the exercises in the book might be beneficial to, or cross over to large format photography.

Jac@stafford.net
10-Mar-2018, 16:05
The left-brain/right-brain has little to do with left-right eye stuff. One eye might have better acuity, but it has nothing to do with brain hemispheres.

Each eye sends half of its 'view' to one side and half to the other side of the brain. In other words our eyes divide the task of visualizing, each side receiving half the image, then as confusing it might seem the mid-brain center of vision processes and sends signals to the rear optical agent, and simultaneously to the higher centers of both sides, while all the time the mid and posterior brain negotiate. And it goes on.

Some people are neither left nor right eyed. I am one. Both my eyes are pretty bad.

Drew Bedo
12-Mar-2018, 16:56
There is a book on drawing titled "Drawing on the Right Side of The Brain".

Anybody know this book?

Bruce Barlow
13-Mar-2018, 05:21
I am right handed, but for as long as I can remember I have used my left eye to focus and compose, both viewfinder cameras and large format. I shoot a rifle left-handed, but I think that is due to breaking my left arm when very young and having limited movement in it.

I was first exposed to this right-left brain thing many years ago when reading one of Fred Pickers Zone VI news letters - he was discussing the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" and how he believed some of the exercises in the book might be beneficial to, or cross over to large format photography.

Well, actually, it was me discussing it - I wrote that newsletter for Fred. While the science of brain hemispheres continues to evolve, the techniques and exercises found in Betty Edwards' books have been useful to me and to many students. For LF, one of the most useful is to have the image be upside-down. Edwards' premise is that we have to stop labelling things, and instead see them for the shapes, forms, light, and shadow that they are. An upside-down image helps us get past labels, and use our visual skills, rather than verbal. Et cetera. For me, at least, what works, works. The exact science is irrelevant.

Most of us would be well-served, methinks, by buying her book and doing some of her exercises. It certainly wouldn't hurt anyone. I used to carry it and a small sketch pad in my briefcase when I was travelling and do exercises in airports. I have many sketches of chairs somewhere, as studies of negative space. It certainly helped pass the time, and improved my ability to see past labels. I wish I'd done more to learn to draw - especially faces. I would have been the life of every party.

Another highly recommended book: Dorothy Sayers' "The Mind of the Maker." A tough read, because she's so incredibly articulate, but the ideas are well worthwhile for any artist.

Joe O'Hara
13-Mar-2018, 14:43
I sometimes close my left eye if I'm not sure about a composition or photographic possibility (I'm right-eye dominant).
The three-dimensional effect goes away then and I can visualize what the image will look like, better than I can with two eyes.
However, when I take the time to do this, I usually move on without making a picture. Having both eyes open never
seems to be a problem when something that really speaks to me presents itself.

pendennis
13-Mar-2018, 16:19
I've been left handed, but right eye dominant for years. My right eye was dominant to the point that I switched shooting rifle and pistol to right hand; that is, until just over four years ago. At that time I had cataract surgery, and had to make a choice for my replacement lens prescription. I also have severe astigmatism, requiring the insertion of a toric lens. My surgeon would not put in equal power lenses. He insisted that one be slightly myopic. So, I chose the left eye for the slight myopia. It changed my dominance. I'm now left eye dominant. I don't have short enough vision to use my right eye for pistol targets. I've now resorted to shooting pistol left handed, since the sights are much more clear.

It also changed the way I look at the ground glass. I now mask the right eye, since I can see the ground glass much more clearly with the left eye, and no lens correction. I do use +1.5 diopter lenses for reading, but I see my ground glass, and even the view finder on cameras much better with my left eye; and I don't close my right eye.

pepeguitarra
22-Mar-2018, 13:10
This is an old, but interesting thread. Many moons ago, in the 1960s, while in the military service, I learned that everyone has a focussing eye. Our shooting instructor went through each one of the recruits and made us focus the M1 and observed us. I did shoot closing my left eye, so, my dominante eye was the right. Again, and the reason I am compelled to write now, is that I read the previous post. I was recently operated of cataract in the left eye. I do not have astigmatism, and I chose the sharpest lens. I can see absolutely everything with the left eye, even the ground glass without dark cloth. I am just waiting a year to have the right eye operated to be a complete bionic vision guy.

MIke Sherck
22-Mar-2018, 17:56
Right handed, left eye dominant which is good because my right eye is developing a cataract. I wonder how far that has to progress before insurance will agree good something about it?

Light Guru
22-Mar-2018, 19:38
That’s the beauty of large format. Under the dark cloth you can use BOTH eyes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Gudmundur Ingolfsson
23-Mar-2018, 07:39
Stupid me. I thought you used your brain more than the eyes !

kevincook
28-Mar-2018, 02:56
creative always works...