[tshadwell]

I have a really excellent visual imagination. I can imagine myself walking or driving great distances, and I can imagine all the scenery, the trees, the colour of the sky. I can put things in the scene, take them out, rotate them. I don't have any sounds or smells.

I have trouble imagining what a person looks like. Especially hard is their face. I don't really have any idea what my mother's face looks like except that she has blonde hair. My dreams don't have people in them, not really. Sometimes there's the concept of a person, but I can't really see them.

Is there a name for this?

Edit: before this article, I didn't know it was possible to have a condition like this. I just assumed I was misinterpreting my imagination somehow.

My sister once related a dream to me that involved several people, some, famous people she hadn't even met. I couldn't recall one that really had anyone physically present. I remember a terrifying nightmare when I was very young that my father was in, but really it was just his trousers. I couldn't see any of him.

[rconti]

I also have the opinion that men don't remember details about peoples' appearance as readily as women do. I'm 99% sure my wife has green eyes, but that number was more like 60% for the first 5 years I knew her.

When I describe men, I tend to say they have blonde-ish hair, particularly if it's short, even if it's brown -- I guess because I'm seeing skin in there that gives me the impression that their head is a lighter color?

I'll notice immediately if someone gets a haircut, but I can't tell you what it looked like before.

[thaw13579]

Not a medical practitioner here, but it might be worth looking into prosopagnosia, or face-blindness. It more generally includes trouble recognizing faces, but maybe also what you describe. It's sometimes hard to diagnose too, since there are many non-face signals that are useful in identifying people, e.g. gait, hair, voice, context, etc.

[jayhuang]

Face blindness is really quite frightening. I'm not sure if it includes not being able to imagine one's face as opposed to not recognizing them in person, but there's a documentary on face blindness somewhere that show people waking up everyday unable to recognize their children, husband, etc.

As much as it's frightening for the family members, I can't imagine how much more so it is for the victim.

[tshadwell]

I might look into this. People are always surprised by how long it takes for me to notice them in a crowd

[JoshTriplett]

Perhaps related to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopagnosia ?

[sdfin]

I find it strange because faces are made of the same stuff than the trees and other stuff you can imagine well: lines and colors.