Portrait Photography for Sale
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Kodachrome Dream (3)
Tyler Shields
Photography - 144.8 x 182.9 cm Photography - 57 x 72 inch
€23,863
Kodachrome Dream (2)
Tyler Shields
Photography - 121.9 x 152.4 cm Photography - 48 x 60 inch
€14,318
Collection Purity - Un Anonyme Nu Dans Le Salon - HB1592
Idan Wizen
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€300
Collection Purity - Un Anonyme Nu Dans Le Salon - HB1383
Idan Wizen
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€300
A fleur de peau #06 (1)
Malo
Photography - 120 x 90 x 1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 35.4 x 0.4 inch
€12,400
Collection Liberty - HB1775
Idan Wizen
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€150
Collection Purity - Un Anonyme Nu Dans Le Salon - HB1371
Idan Wizen
Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0 inch
€150
Welcome On Board Rolls Royce
Philippe Shangti
Photography - 90 x 90 x 0.5 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0.2 inch
€18,000
Human Alienation, Selfportrait
Chiara Mazzocchi
Photography - 50 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.1 inch
€495
Tryptich - The Black on Black Collection
Faie Davis
Photography - 62.2 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm Photography - 24.5 x 30 x 1 inch
€1,145
The new milkmaid
Mathilde Oscar
Photography - 90 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
€1,200
Passionate
Dan Holmqvist
Photography - 100 x 95 x 0.2 cm Photography - 39.4 x 37.4 x 0.1 inch
€2,141
F0648 - The warrior
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€1,800
Skindo travesti
Pierre Molinier
Photography - 13 x 9 x 1 cm Photography - 5.1 x 3.5 x 0.4 inch
€1,500
"Pearls" la dernière séance (1962)
Bert Stern
Photography - 26 x 37 x 2 cm Photography - 10.2 x 14.6 x 0.8 inch
€1,990
Women and Tree VIII
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€1,909
Untitled IV
José Sierra
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.62 x 35.44 x 0.1 inch
€1,909
#10. From La Piedra Sustituta II Series
José Sierra
Photography - 101.6 x 67.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 40 x 26.6 x 0.1 inch
€1,909
Miranda as Cerynitis
Laurence Winram
Photography - 84.1 x 59.4 x 0.2 cm Photography - 33.1 x 23.4 x 0.1 inch
€587
Women and Tree VII
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€1,909
No57 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 50.8 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 20 x 0.1 inch
€785
Lost and Found
Maud Chalard
Photography - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
€1,600
Bleu ( portrait )
Cécile Baldewyns
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.04 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€700
Mia Villiers-Farrow on a bed
Diane Arbus
Photography - 35.56 x 35.56 cm Photography - 14 x 14 inch
€16,500
Nastasia III Playboy FotoErotica 2019 1st place award
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
€550
Fuck the rules in Chanel
Cécile Plaisance
Photography - 125 x 95 x 2 cm Photography - 49.2 x 37.4 x 0.8 inch
€16,000
Marilyn Monroe: The Last Sitting Portfolio 7
Bert Stern
Photography - 61 x 61 cm Photography - 24 x 24 inch
€19,090
Nastasia Playboy FotoErotica 2019 1st place award
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 45 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€550
Nastasia V Playboy FotoErotica 2019 1st place award
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 45 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€550
Nastasia IV Playboy FotoErotica 2019 1st place award
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
€550
Marina II Playboy FotoErotica 2018
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
€550
Marina Playboy FotoErotica 2018
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
€750
Newport - H0438 - Collection Artificial Nature
Idan Wizen
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch
€1,600
F0480 - The antidepressant
Idan Wizen
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€1,800
Muscas, la reine des mouches
Mathilde Oscar
Photography - 90 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
€2,000
Inside
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0 inch
€1,475
Marilyn jewels down the back
Bert Stern
Photography - 48 x 33 cm Photography - 18.9 x 13 inch
€2,490
Nastasia II Playboy FotoErotica 2019 1st place award
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 45 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€550
La parade de la tentation
Lionel Morateur
Photography - 60 x 120 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 47.2 x 0.2 inch
€1,500
Discover the styles & movements
Discover the selection of our experts
Portrait Photography for Sale
In the 1830s, Nièpce discovered the process for setting images onto pewter plates. In 1833, upon Nièpce's death, Louis Daguerre and François Arago continued his experiments and invented the daguerreotype, a process which created a printed image on a silver plate that had been exposed to light. Photography was born.
Similarly to how portrait painting had dominated artistic output in previous centuries, portrait photography was to become the pillar of the Second French Empire's photographic industry. Lenses with a shorter focal length, which enabled reduced exposure times, gradually appear on the market. The required equipment was expensive and difficult to handle. Some photographers, called daguerreotypists, decided to open their own photography studios to make a profit from their endeavours. The daguerreotype process was temperamental, and photographers had to take their pictures with great precision and attention to detail. They welcomed many people into their studios and customers choose how they wished to be photographed from catalogue of poses. Originally only accessible to the bourgeoisie, lower prices resulting from the growing number of studios eventually attracted a wider customer base. This phenomenon infuriated the poet Charles Baudelaire who was frustrated by the sense of narcissism sparked by the daguerreotypists.
Despite his protests, the egotistical trend only grew with the emergence of 'carte de visite' portraits (small photographs, the size of today's business cards). These were the brainchild of Adolphe Eugène Disdéri came up with the idea of producing portraits akin to visiting cards in 1859. He printed eight portraits in a variety of poses onto a single plate and once developed they could be cut up into eight distinct “visiting cards". Very popular with the bourgeoisie, they highlighted the sitters' social status. 'Carte de visite' portraits featuring celebrities were also sold to customers, who could subsequently add them to their albums.
The photographer Nadar was one of the first to demonstrate a conscious artistic approach to producing these portraits. He emphasised facial expressions and ensured the sitter was comfortable and at ease before taking the photograph. He photographed the era's greatest thinkers and artists, including Honoré de Balzac, George Sand, and Victor Hugo. He even managed to reconcile Baudelaire with portraiture.
At the end of the 19th century, the art of photography started to enter the mainstream, with the arrival of the Kodak company. The use of the camera, and the taking of portraits, became everyday occurrences. A century later, it was the invention of the digital camera which challenged the status quo. Whereas before alterations could only be made to photographs when they were being taken or developed, with the digital camera editing became easier, quicker and more convenient. Digital photography has given photographers much more freedom when it comes to editing and new methods and techniques are constantly being explored.
Some of the photographers who have left their mark on the last century include: Cindy Sherman, who excelled in self-portraits, Annie Leibovitz, who captured celebrities, the wacky duo, Pierre and Gilles, as well as Diane Arbus, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton and Bettina Rheims.
So, do portraits help us to learn more about each other, to remember, to invent, to act, or to reconnect with ourselves? Find out on Artsper, by exploring the works of Formento & Formento, Naomi Vona, Ahmed Bennani, Chou Ching Hui, Samuel Cueto, Brno del Zou, Ren Hang, Markus + Indrani, Jerome Liebling as well as Annina Roescheisen.
A portrait photograph can be a photograph of a person's head and shoulders, but it can also be of an animal or of a different section of the subject's body such as their feet. Portrait photographs in art often tell or hint something about its subject to the viewer, such as an aspect of their personality, but still contain an element of mystery.
The three major types of portrait photography are posed portraits, candid or anonymous portraits, and conceptual portraits. The last type, conceptual or creative portraits, can be experimental and abstract, and may not represent an image close to a traditional portrait.
The six main types of portrait photography are fine art portraits, traditional portraits (for example posed portraits taken at school), lifestyle portraits, group portraits, street portraits and glamour portraits.