Why do white people get red eyes in photos and other races don't?

I may be wrong but from observations over the years, I have not seen any red eyed Asians or my Indigenous Friends in photos.

Maybe it has something to do with eye colour?

As far as I know, anyone can get red eye. It's the light reflecting off the back off the eye back out of the pupil. It isn't just humans that can produce this effect, but many animals too.

reply to post by stumason


can someone post a pic? Over the years I am always taking the red eye out of my Daughter's eyes and never her friends who are Asian?

That is weird. Even my Daughter thinks there has to be a reason for it. Many photos are where everyone is looking at the camera when the flash goes off and yet it is only my Daughter's eyes I have to take the red eye out?

strange

reply to post by Thurisaz


I just did a little search and couldn't seem to find any photo's showing the red eye effect, except for "white" people. Come to think of it, I cant recall seeing a photo of an Asian or indigenous person with the red eye effect. They usually have dark colored eyes, perhaps that has something to do with it? I've noticed blue eyes seem to work well.

And I just thought I would share this pic I found on Wikipedia because it's awesome:

reply to post by CHA0S


thx for the pic of the cat. that is awesome...

the whiteness in an eye usually means the onset of blindness... but orange? ^ the above is spectacular!

reply to post by Thurisaz


I'm not a scientist but I'm going to try to guess at the explanation BEFORE I do a google search about it

Okay, here's my guess:

As our species left Africa and went to various climates our genetics changed. These slight variations in appearance and genetic make-up are what we refer to as "race", they are relatively superficial meaning we never evolved in to separate species. Those that migrated to Europe would have faced snowy conditions during the Ice Age, it is possible that the eyes of Europeans who lived in this icy climates developed to take in LESS light than those who migrated elsewhere or stayed in Africa (that is IF lighter eyes reflect more light). Because of the reflectiveness of snow it wasn't necessary to take in a lot of light with the eye... At least that's my initial hypothesis, time to do my google search.

Red Eye Wikipedia Page

I've done a search but so far the answer seems to suggest that eye color might have something to do with it, the brighter the eye color the better the chance of reflection...

Here's a link on the Evolution of Eye Color: Source

Its really the blood vessels behind the eye, if you see white it could be cancer or many other diseases.

I made it about fifty pages deep into Google images, thinking this would be a picnic to disprove.

Boy was I wrong!

reply to post by Thurisaz


If this is true, I have to say it is the coolest thing I have read in the last few weeks!

I have never even THOUGHT about this kind of thing, now I must go check my old photo albums. Though I confess, I may not have a very cultural photo-history.

Not my fault, all the albums are old from the parents. I hate taking photos!

Anyway, yeah, if this is true how very very interesting!

I also did a google search and noticed that perhaps it's not race specific per se, but perhaps they DO get red-eye but it's lost in the brown-ness of the eye colour. Some brown eyes do appear reddish in photos.

I've noticed that I can't seem to find a white person with brown eyes that has the red-eye photo issue either.

Wait! This link to an HP site shows an Asian woman with red-eye.. She looks Thai-ish or Philipino.(sp?)

HP Red-eye reduction

reply to post by CHA0S


I have done some searches and it isn't really much to do with skin colour, but more to do with eye colour like you have said. Darker eyes are less prone to red-eye, so as a result, black people for example are less prone because they usually have brown eyes rather than blue, but that isn't to say it doesn't happen.

Red eye is not race specific anyone can get red eye. Its simply caused by the light traveling through the blood vessels in the eye. However Asians are less likely to show red eye in pictures because they have a tendency to look away when pictures are taken. I noticed this when i went to Japan. Its all most like there shy but they tend to look away from the camera.

reply to post by dragonridr

Red eye is not race specific anyone can get red eye. Its simply caused by the light traveling through the blood vessels in the eye.

Indeed, it has been said several times now.

However Asians are less likely to show red eye in pictures because they have a tendency to look away when pictures are taken.

That's not the reason at all...I'm quite certain it has to do with eye color, it's harder to see with brown eyes, but as some one else said, it does happen to a lesser extent some times with brown eyes.

Certainly animals get red-eye - my father took a picture of his dog and its eyes came out so red that it looks like a demon hellhound. It's unfortunate that I don't have the picture to post it because it's a classic.
However, I'm pretty sure the arguments about eye colour are correct - I have grey eyes but the rest of my family have brown, if anyone got red-eye in family photos it was almost always me.

J

reply to post by stumason


Yeah that sounds about right... I’ve got Brown eyes and can’t think of one photo where I’ve had red-eye. However, my sisters have green eyes and have often had red-eye in photos.

this could go on forever,

where in any one of any skin color could be of whatever genetic importance to have or have not, red eye in photos,

if its about the physical nature of the eye, then you will not be able to find the difference simply by skin color, this world is all to mixed,

what must be done to prove/disprove this idea is a long study of as many people of as many cultures as possible, to find everyone who doesnt get red eye in photos and a comparitive analysis of their gene's

Originally posted by pryingopen3rdeye
this could go on forever,

Not really, it seems quite straight forward. No need for a "study" at all.

It is simply a case of light being reflected back out, people with lighter coloured eyes reflect more light out as well as children, whose pupils dilate quicker in response to light/dark so they tend to get the "red eye" effect more so than adults.

Why the color of the iris should matter to what is reflected through the pupil from the retina I cannot say, nor does it make sense to me because the eye is transparent in that area. More information is required.

Anyway, why this should be posted as a conspiracy instead of merely an interesting hypothesis that can be falsified about the very existence and cause of a phenomenon, if it exists, is confusing.

reply to post by CHA0S


Where'd you get that photo of my cat?