Portrait Photography for Sale
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Meskel Durag
Maisha Marshallende
Photography - 90 x 100 x 3 cm Photography - 35.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
£889
Calligraphing en l'air #6
Cody Choi
Photography - 75 x 50 x 1.5 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0.6 inch
£1,500
Sick Bacchus, after Caravaggio (Pictures of Magazine 2)
Vik Muniz
Photography - 132 x 101.6 cm Photography - 52 x 40 inch
£30,980
Marie Trintignant
Aldo Soares
Photography - 41 x 31 x 0.2 cm Photography - 16.1 x 12.2 x 0.1 inch
£356
Anonymous Face
Darios Tossou
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.8 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.3 inch
£1,645
Magic Comes To Lurline Bay
Anthony Horth
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 2 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.8 inch
£733
Flammarion. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.6 x 8.5 x 0.1 inch
£904
La Renaissance (poudre de diamant)
Jonas Leriche
Photography - 127 x 87 x 2 cm Photography - 50 x 34.3 x 0.8 inch
£14,230
Tree, Omo Valley Ethiopia Africa
Jean-Michel Voge
Photography - 61 x 43.2 cm Photography - 24 x 17 inch
£1,340
Recconais qu'il y a toujours une inconnue
Julie Peiffer
Photography - 62 x 40 x 0.5 cm Photography - 24.4 x 15.7 x 0.2 inch
£1,067
Hiding in the city, Paris - n°14, Pharmacy
Liu Bolin
Photography - 90 x 120 cm Photography - 35.4 x 47.2 inch
£12,896
Deseo Insular XIV
José Sierra
Photography - 91.4 x 55.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 22 x 0.1 inch
£1,675
Don de soi XXVII
Feng Kaixuan
Photography - 80 x 120 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0.4 inch
£6,404
Goose-in-Love-with-Boy-in-Love-with-Goose ; Rumination Concerning Interspecies and Same-Sex Marriage, Erie Country fair, Hambourg, New York
Les Krims
Photography - 38.7 x 49.8 x 0.5 cm Photography - 15.2 x 19.6 x 0.2 inch
£1,067
Close to nothing (Pink)
Sophie Derrick
Photography - 42 x 30 x 8 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.8 x 3.1 inch
£1,200
L'intimité (Suisse)
Vincent Citot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
£667
Lips collection
Mehdi Mirbagheri
Photography - 70 x 70 x 0.5 cm Photography - 27.6 x 27.6 x 0.2 inch
£1,334
Portrait of Indian Women
Alejandra Leon
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
£712
Picasso Preside la Corrida - Frejus, 1962
Lucien Clergue
Photography - 45.7 x 55.9 cm Photography - 18 x 22 inch
£10,047
Pigment, sweat and nothing else... III
Gersony Silva
Photography - 120 x 79 x 1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.1 x 0.4 inch
£1,779
Man with Black Sand
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£1,860
Pink or black 03, Camargue
Nathan Soulez-Larivière
Photography - 90 x 60 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 inch
£445
A Strange Encounter
Su Yang
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
£534
Find a way, make it safe
Christa David
Photography - 76.2 x 55.88 x 2 cm Photography - 30 x 22 x 0.8 inch
£3,112
Iconic Beauty #13
Benoit Lapray
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
£534
A Widow in Her Bedroom, 55th St, NYC
Diane Arbus
Photography - 35.6 x 27.9 cm Photography - 14 x 11 inch
£33,492
Kind of Blue
Mikael Kenta
Photography - 105 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 41.33 x 27.55 x 0.1 inch
£2,596
Fire Hydrant, Harlem, New York City
Leonard Freed
Photography - 48.3 x 33 cm Photography - 19 x 13 inch
£2,512
BB King Kodalith Performance - Orange Jacket, LA Forum
Glen Craig
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 2 inch
£1,256
Blue Madonna 01
Nathalie Auzepy
Photography - 120 x 80 x 2 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
£4,002
Le Chaman - Nazca Line, Pérou
Nicolas Demeersman
Photography - 100 x 100 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 inch
£1,601
Le Baiser - Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg
Tony Frank
Photography - 75 x 110 x 4 cm Photography - 29.5 x 43.3 x 1.6 inch
£9,783
Le baiser
Gaëlle Simon
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.7 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.3 inch
£4,892 £4,402
Kanzanchis (Lingering II)
Eyoeal Kefyalew
Photography - 40 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
£712
Grandma Divers IX
Alain Schroeder
Photography - 120 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
£2,223
The Drunken Beauty, Chinese opera 3
Diane Vo Ngoc
Photography - 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.1 cm Photography - 4.3 x 3.3 x 0 inch
£489
Le peintre en visite chez des amis
Jean Le Gac
Photography - 58 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 22.8 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
£560
Cache cache sur le pont
Jean-Marc Stoeffler
Photography - 37 x 47 x 1 cm Photography - 14.6 x 18.5 x 0.4 inch
£222
Alice Heine (1857-1925), épouse du Prince Albert 1er de Monaco, buste en marbre blanc par Fabio Stecchi (1855-1928), 1892, Carole. Palais Princier de Monaco
Julien Spiewak
Photography - 70 x 50 x 5 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 x 2 inch
£3,469
Portrait of Francis Picabia
Man Ray
Photography - 27 x 21 x 0.2 cm Photography - 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.1 inch
£28,460
Couli #1, From Lullaby Series
Salvatore Arnone
Photography - 127 x 88.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 50 x 35 x 0.1 inch
£2,093
Portrait of Winnipeg (Life is like a box of chocolates)
Diana Thorneycroft
Photography - 61 x 76 cm Photography - 24 x 29.9 inch
£2,931
Esprit Noir
Modou Dieng Yacine
Photography - 106.7 x 109.2 x 3 cm Photography - 42 x 43 x 1.2 inch
£7,560
Liberty (medium)
Jesus Torio
Photography - 84.1 x 54.06 x 0.2 cm Photography - 33.1 x 21.3 x 0.1 inch
£1,156
Portrait of spring
Viet Ha Tran
Photography - 119.9 x 87.1 x 0.3 cm Photography - 47.2 x 34.3 x 0.1 inch
£1,675
Fashion is image 2
Akif Hakan
Photography - 150 x 100 x 3 cm Photography - 59.1 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
£7,115
Skindo travesti debout
Pierre Molinier
Photography - 13.5 x 6 x 1 cm Photography - 5.3 x 2.4 x 0.4 inch
£1,334
Discover the styles & movements
Discover the selection of our experts
Serie Terra Retrato en fondo beige
Enrique Pichardo
Painting - 70 x 70 x 1 cm Painting - 27.6 x 27.6 x 0.4 inch
£768
The tree of life
Seyran Gasparyan
Painting - 50 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
£1,005
The Last Museum Guard at the Last Museum on Earth
Hernan Bas
Print - 49 x 35 cm Print - 19.3 x 13.8 inch
£1,067
The ballet friends
Serghei Ghetiu
Painting - 90 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
£1,779
Inventoriage biométrique
Gopal Dagnogo
Fine Art Drawings - 220 x 220 x 0.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 86.6 x 86.6 x 0.1 inch
£880
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.
What makes a portrait photograph?
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.
What are the three major types of portrait photography?
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.
What are the six styles of portrait photography?
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.