Portrait Photography for Sale
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Tania Mallet In A Madame Paulette Hat
John French
Photography - 101.6 x 101.6 cm Photography - 40 x 40 inch
£866
Eternal Recurrence #42
Natasha Zupan
Photography - 152.4 x 135.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 60 x 53.5 x 0.1 inch
£4,147
Eternal Recurrence #43, Enlarged Photo Print
Natasha Zupan
Photography - 152.4 x 135.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 60 x 53.5 x 0.1 inch
£4,147
Eternal Recurrence #16
Natasha Zupan
Photography - 185.4 x 50.8 x 20.3 cm Photography - 73 x 20 x 8 inch
£4,147
Noel Coward's Eye, #2257
Natasha Zupan
Photography - 152.4 x 135.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 60 x 53.5 x 0.1 inch
£4,147
Atoms and Pearls, #2237
Natasha Zupan
Photography - 152.4 x 135.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 60 x 53.5 x 0.1 inch
£4,147
Sphere of Life, #2238
Natasha Zupan
Photography - 152.4 x 135.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 60 x 53.5 x 0.1 inch
£4,147
Lover Man Oh Where Can You Be?
Natasha Zupan
Photography - 152.4 x 135.9 x 5.1 cm Photography - 60 x 53.5 x 2 inch
£4,147
Attente, La Havane 994
Jean-Robert Franco
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
£2,222
30's Upside Down
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0 inch
£107
Ok this is the Pop!
David Law
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.5 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.2 inch
£1,777
Out of the Blue
David Law
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.5 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.2 inch
£1,777
The himba
Faie Davis
Photography - 85.8 x 76.8 x 0.25 cm Photography - 33.8 x 30.2 x 0.1 inch
£1,244
Destruyendo Metáforas #2
Léa Bon
Photography - 50 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.69 x 11.81 x 0.1 inch
£829
Destruyendo Metáforas
Léa Bon
Photography - 50 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.69 x 11.81 x 0.1 inch
£829
Occult Games #4
Léa Bon
Photography - 75 x 50 x 0.3 cm Photography - 29.53 x 19.68 x 0.1 inch
£1,244
Francis Joyon
Christophe Paucelier
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
£844
Lost & found (3)
Théo Gosselin
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch
£1,955
Aguaje awaiting transport, Dublin
Carlos Pericás
Photography - 18 x 13 cm Photography - 7.1 x 5.1 inch
£147
Lady of Naggaroth 1
Léa Bon
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£1,659
Homme à la barbe
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
£1,289
Joueur de Guitare 1915 Guitar player
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
£1,285
1915 La liseuse The reader
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
£1,289
1915 Lady à la robe noire Lady with black dress
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
£1,289
1915 Fille en décolleté
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
£1,289
1915 Lady au chapeau Lady with hat
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
£1,289
1915 La fille au livre Girl with book
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
£1,289
1915 Marie en déshabillé de soie
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
£1,289
1915 Amélie mutine
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
£1,289
1915 Jeune femme Young woman
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
£1,289
1915 Femme brune Brunette
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
£1,289
1915 Femme au chignon
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
£1,289
1915 Madame Bernheim au canapé
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 x 0.5 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 x 0.2 inch
£1,289
1915 Bacchus
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
£1,289
1915 Lecture Reading
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 x 0.5 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 x 0.2 inch
£1,289
1915 Le fichu brodé ALICE Embroidered scarf
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 inch
£1,733
Elvis Presley from the Castelloland series.
Paloma Castello
Photography - 69.9 x 49.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 19.6 x 0.1 inch
£1,037
Mata Hari
Paloma Castello
Photography - 119.9 x 83.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 47.2 x 33 x 0.1 inch
£1,659
Rudolph Valentino from the Castelloland series.
Paloma Castello
Photography - 119.9 x 83.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 47.2 x 33 x 0.1 inch
£1,659
Marlon Brando from the Castelloland series.
Paloma Castello
Photography - 69.9 x 49.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 19.6 x 0.1 inch
£1,037
Teatrino from the Castelloland series.
Paloma Castello
Photography - 69.9 x 49.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 19.6 x 0.1 inch
£1,037
Hedy Lamar from the Castelloland series.
Paloma Castello
Photography - 69.9 x 49.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 19.6 x 0.1 inch
£1,037
Delirio Exótico #5
Paloma Castello
Photography - 119.9 x 82.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 47.2 x 32.6 x 0.1 inch
£1,244
Lines that lead to perfection
John Kenny
Photography - 90 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
£2,500
Sidney Poitier, from the Castelloland series
Paloma Castello
Photography - 83.8 x 119.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 33 x 47.2 x 0.1 inch
£1,659
Marlene Dietrich, from the Castelloland series
Paloma Castello
Photography - 83.8 x 119.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 33 x 47.2 x 0.1 inch
£1,659
James Dean from the Castelloland series
Paloma Castello
Photography - 119.9 x 83.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 47.2 x 33 x 0.1 inch
£1,659
Invisible Identity
Robert Jaso
Photography - 57 x 41 x 0.1 cm Photography - 22.4 x 16.1 x 0 inch
£2,444
Invisible Complexity
Robert Jaso
Photography - 57 x 41 x 0.1 cm Photography - 22.4 x 16.1 x 0 inch
£2,444
Silent Contradiction
Robert Jaso
Photography - 57 x 41 x 1 cm Photography - 22.4 x 16.1 x 0.4 inch
£2,444
Nameless Mystery
Robert Jaso
Photography - 57 x 41 x 1 cm Photography - 22.4 x 16.1 x 0.4 inch
£2,444
No face, No Identity
Robert Jaso
Photography - 57 x 41 x 1 cm Photography - 22.4 x 16.1 x 0.4 inch
£2,444
A Faceless State
Robert Jaso
Photography - 100 x 100 x 1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.4 inch
£2,177
Girl standing by the sea
Pedro Correa
Photography - 100 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
£5,243
Elvis Presley, Tropical Island
Paloma Castello
Photography - 101.6 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 inch
£1,659
Hipster in Stone VII, Hoplite
Léo Caillard
Photography - 80 x 120 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 inch
£3,199
Architects Anonymous
Alexander Benz
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
£1,600
Lucia at eleven
Cristina Fontsare
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
£711
Lucia and Tika
Cristina Fontsare
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
£889 £800
The hood is falling short
Cristina Fontsare
Photography - 40 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 20.1 x 0 inch
£889
Lucia at thirteen
Cristina Fontsare
Photography - 40 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 20.1 x 0 inch
£889
Sombra, Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,333
Reyes, Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,333
Caracol, Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,333
Dama. Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,333
Pregonera, Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,333
Discover the styles & movements
Discover the selection of our experts
The tree of life
Seyran Gasparyan
Painting - 50 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
£995 £846
Scarface - The World is Yours
Belart Collective
Print - 101 x 77 x 4 cm Print - 39.8 x 30.3 x 1.6 inch
£2,213
Circus Acrobats
Joanna Zakrzewska-Cholewa
Sculpture - 49 x 15 x 6 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 5.9 x 2.4 inch
£1,421
Her Softness
Kirill Postovit
Painting - 100 x 70 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
£1,333 £813
The beauty of dance XII
Serghei Ghetiu
Painting - 80 x 49 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 19.3 x 0.8 inch
£1,511
Portrait #2. From the Portraits series
Luigi Christopher Veggetti Kanku
Painting - 30 x 20.8 x 0.3 cm Painting - 11.8 x 8.2 x 0.1 inch
£995
L'envole I - préchauffage
Patricia Dubois
Painting - 93 x 70 x 3.5 cm Painting - 36.6 x 27.6 x 1.4 inch
£1,955
The Last Museum Guard at the Last Museum on Earth
Hernan Bas
Print - 49 x 35 cm Print - 19.3 x 13.8 inch
£1,066
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.