an eye for nature

February 3, 2008 12:45 AM

Eyescapes by Rankin [nsfw].

Rankin's home site [flash], his Wikipedia entry.

The anatomy of the iris l Crypts of Fuchs l Pupillary ruff l Contraction furrows l pigment dots l color scale l Wolfflin nodules l factor structure

Eye color, or more correctly, iris color is due to...

The visible features of an iris arise in the trabeculum, a meshwork of connective tissue that displays arching ligaments, crypts, contraction furrows, a corona and pupillary frill, coloration, and sometimes freckles. The striated anterior layer covering the trabecular meshwork creates the predominant texture seen with visible light (see examples here), but all of these sources of radial and angular variation taken together constitute a distinctive "fingerprint" that can be imaged from some distance.

posted by nickyskye (33 comments total)

nice post. thanks.
posted by Dillonlikescookies at 1:20 AM on February 3, 2008

Very beautiful and estranging; any info on the "why" of iris-colour?
posted by progosk at 2:12 AM on February 3, 2008

The iris stuff was neat. The other, for erotica, was very erotic. Thanks, nickyskye.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 3:18 AM on February 3, 2008

The iris art shots are totally mesmerizing; I'd love to see a whole lot more of them. Thankee, v. much! Also, - hey, I have pupillary ruffs! - very, very similar to this example, ruff and iris color altogether. whee!
posted by taz at 4:47 AM on February 3, 2008

The iris stuff was neat. The other, for erotica, was very erotic. Thanks, nickyskye.

Frankly, the erotica wasn't very erotic at all. Here's a naked woman, now here she is in a box, are you turned on yet? No, well here she is in a basket, hawt!
posted by Pollomacho at 5:00 AM on February 3, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Beautiful stuff. I clicked around randomly from Beauty to Erotica to Celebrities and just did not expect to end on Queen Elizabeth.
posted by itchylick at 5:18 AM on February 3, 2008

i liked the eyes - but otherwise you know that behind the fourth wall a very efficient man has lights and assistants.
posted by sgt.serenity at 5:19 AM on February 3, 2008

I haven't read all those (very interesting) articles yet, sorry if this was mentioned already.
Blue-eyed humans have a single, common ancestor
posted by morizky at 6:44 AM on February 3, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I've got to agree with Pollomacho a bit. His female subjects often seem stripped of all personality.
posted by desjardins at 7:10 AM on February 3, 2008

Cool, thanks!

Of all the models posing in those shots, all of them looked like they were strong confident women enjoying themselves, with the exception of a few (the one who's crouching at the feet of what looks to be like men standing around her), and of course the ones in the Shopping Cart/Cardboard Box/Picnic Basket--which was very weird, and not erotic at all. More like images of women being commodified than anything else, however, one could argue that that maybe the case with all of them.
posted by hadjiboy at 7:27 AM on February 3, 2008

Great post about eyes, hopefully people won't jump on the nsfw link and walk away thinking it's just another commercial photography portfolio.
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:21 AM on February 3, 2008

related post
posted by Bugg at 9:15 AM on February 3, 2008

Kate's Moss. [nsfw]
posted by wsg at 9:54 AM on February 3, 2008

I got curious so I took some close up pictures of my eye.

At different times I've been told that my eyes are green, blue, or hazel. So after some experimentation, I discovered that different parts of the iris would light up depending on which direction the light was coming from--the front, the side, or from no particular direction (like on an overcast day). So it is true. My eyes are green, or blue, or hazel!

There should be a website: post your iris, so we can see what everyone's eyes look like--take our picture, yet keep our confidentiality.
posted by eye of newt at 9:59 AM on February 3, 2008

eye of newt: you had me wondering, but you're absolutely right! My irises, however, are brown from any angle. Boring.
posted by Ella Fynoe at 10:32 AM on February 3, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

There should be a website: post your iris

So boyfriends and husbands can do some quick googling if they can't remember.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:33 AM on February 3, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Eye love this post.
posted by not_on_display at 10:35 AM on February 3, 2008

Eyes 10 and 11 appear to be the same iris shopped into two different colors.
posted by middleclasstool at 10:36 AM on February 3, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Eyes 10 and 11 appear to be the same iris shopped into two different colors.

Seriously, what's up with that?
posted by wafaa at 10:49 AM on February 3, 2008

Unless they belong to the same person--could that be possible?
posted by wafaa at 10:51 AM on February 3, 2008

Horizontal scrolling = automatic fail.

However, many of the photos are technically well done, although somewhat sterile and devoid of emotional connection with the subject.
posted by SPrintF at 11:12 AM on February 3, 2008

the girl in the shopping cart reminds me of Sissy Spacek in Prime Cut.
posted by generalist at 11:27 AM on February 3, 2008

Here's what I was talking about: my right eye under two different lighting conditions. It is kind of subtle, but from a distance, they will look green or will look blue.

These pictures also serve another purpose, they make the Eyescape pictures look great.

Now you can see the eye of newt. There are some interesting ones on Flickr if you search for 'iris'.
posted by eye of newt at 11:41 AM on February 3, 2008

Poking around in the +Indexes directory structure from the first link one finds sofas are sexy, people like to snog, and many women wear the same dress.

I like the snogging.
posted by mistersquid at 11:49 AM on February 3, 2008

Poking around in the +Indexes directory structure from the first link one finds sofas are sexy, people like to snog, and many women wear the same dress.

I like the snogging.
posted by mistersquid at 1:49 PM on February 3

Or, you could just use the navigation menu on the left hand side and go to "special projects".
posted by Ynoxas at 12:05 PM on February 3, 2008

Or, you could just use the navigation menu on the left hand side and go to "special projects".

*blinks*

totally missed the special projects link
posted by mistersquid at 12:08 PM on February 3, 2008

Very cool post.
posted by christopherious at 1:31 PM on February 3, 2008

You forgot my favorite eye part: the zonule of Zinn!!!!
posted by Maias at 3:24 PM on February 3, 2008

Are these all real eyes I wonder, or are the colorized?
posted by antidemeta at 4:15 PM on February 3, 2008

Maias, the Zonule of Zinn sounds like one of the sultans of swing or somebody exotic. Crypts of Fuchs sounds like a real badass German Jewish LA gang. Yesterday I learned about sectoral heterochromia and central heterochomia, different color eyes in one person or irises which include areas of different color. It prompted me to do this post. Trabecular meshwork is a phrase I've always wanted to know too, like the gill underside of a mushroom.

eye of newt, you have fascinating eyes. They are really both blue and green. Have you ever noticed that when certain people get angry their eye color seems to change? Like get lighter in tone? I've wondered if I was imagining that or whether there is any science to that perception.

Bugg, thanks so much for the link to the other thread. I particularly enjoying reading about how to read a person's personality from their irises, with the crypts (pits) and contraction furrows (lines curving around the outer edge of the iris), which are formed when pupils dilate It was found that those with more crypts were likely to be tender, warm and trusting, while those with more furrows were more likely to be neurotic, impulsive and give in to cravings.

Looking at the irises Rankin photographed it was easy to see those pits and furrows.
posted by nickyskye at 4:42 PM on February 3, 2008

Now, is there a name for eyes changing color under certain lights and certain situations?

(Because my eyes do it too, eye of newt. Only my eyes go from green to hazel to brown to grey. And it all depends on what I'm wearing and what light you're using. So now I'm curious.)

As for Rankin, a very interesting photographer (I actually prefer his celebrity projects to his erotica) who could do a lot more with his eyescapes. Also, there are *lots* of cool parts to eye....off to go read about the Zonule of Zinn.
posted by librarylis at 8:34 PM on February 3, 2008

NSFW? These look like the Calvin Klein ads that I see posted up all over SoHo.

Good photography, though.
posted by Afroblanco at 12:07 AM on February 4, 2008

Cool post, nickyskye. I liked the eye photos especially--the colour gradations are just beautiful.

librarylis wrote: my eyes do it too, eye of newt. Only my eyes go from green to hazel to brown to grey. And it all depends on what I'm wearing and what light you're using.

My eyes also change colour. I wonder if it is common for those of us with hazel eyes--mine become either more golden-brown or more green depending on the lighting or what I'm wearing. [I remember now once having a severe allergic reaction to some pollen and the whites of my eyes turned bright red--in contrast, my eyes appeared to be an unnatural shade of bright green. I looked like The Hulk.]
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:30 AM on February 4, 2008