The mechanisms for the substantial variation in the durations of visual fixations in scene perception are not yet well understood. During free viewing of paintings, gaze-contingent irrelevant distractors (Exp. 1) and nongaze-related time-locked display changes (Exp. 2) were presented. We demonstrated that any visual change-its onset and offset-prolongs the ongoing fixation (i.e., delays the following saccade), strongly suggesting that fixation durations are under the direct control of the stimulus information. The strongest influence of distraction was observed for fixations preceded by saccades within the parafoveal range (<5°of visual angle). We assume that these fixations contribute to the focal in contrast to the ambient mode of attention