Portrait Photography for Sale
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Save your search to find it quickly
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
La tête à l'envers
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
€1,000
Head, Pharrell Williams Portrait. Photography intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 76 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 29.9 x 24 x 0.1 inch
€4,797
Vertebrae And Lullaby
Kalliope Amorphous
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.05 inch
€4,318
Music
Kalliope Amorphous
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.05 inch
€2,111
The Body Electric
Kalliope Amorphous
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.05 inch
€2,111
Persephone
Kalliope Amorphous
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.05 inch
€2,111
Coming Through
Kalliope Amorphous
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 1.3 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.5 inch
€4,030
Darwin - Gods of Suburbia
Dina Goldstein
Photography - 45 x 65 x 1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 25.6 x 0.4 inch
€1,500
Untitled, From the series Balance
Salvatore Arnone
Photography - 127 x 88.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 50 x 35 x 0.1 inch
€2,399
Untitled, From the series Balance
Salvatore Arnone
Photography - 127 x 88.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 50 x 35 x 0.1 inch
€2,399
Virtuous Woman
Kamal Obat
Photography - 59.4 x 41.9 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.4 x 16.5 x 0.2 inch
€336
Attrape cœur
Françoise Dugourd-Caput
Photography - 70 x 100 cm Photography - 27.6 x 39.4 inch
€1,090
Thom Yorke (2006)
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 101 x 152 cm Photography - 39.8 x 59.8 inch
€13,260
Spiritualized (1994)
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 101 x 76 cm Photography - 39.8 x 29.9 inch
€3,980
Blue sky's here for me
Ana Zegheanu
Photography - 20 x 20 x 0.02 cm Photography - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0 inch
€160
Hello, Old Friend
Dasha Pears
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€780
Les amants imaginaires
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€586
Amina and Oumar
Charlotte Yonga
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
€1,300
Synesthetic Letters - T
Dasha Pears
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€780
Wind in Her Hair
Dasha Pears
Photography - 70 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 27.6 x 27.6 x 0 inch
€1,180
Richard Ashcroft (1999)
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 101 x 76 cm Photography - 39.8 x 29.9 inch
€3,980
R.E.M. Collage (1996)
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 76 x 60 cm Photography - 29.9 x 23.6 inch
€2,875
Patricia Arquette (2001)
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 76 x 61 cm Photography - 29.9 x 24 inch
€2,875
Daddy G Massive Attack
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 76 x 61 cm Photography - 29.9 x 24 inch
€2,875
Portrait of Francis Picabia
Man Ray
Photography - 27 x 21 x 0.2 cm Photography - 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.1 inch
€32,000
Portrait of a Silverback
Drew Doggett
Photography - 91.4 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 27 x 0.1 inch
€2,399
Waiting for the drums
James Sparshatt
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€725
Photographie de Marilyn par Bert Stern
Bert Stern
Photography - 69 x 65 x 1 cm Photography - 27.2 x 25.6 x 0.4 inch
€4,900
Mujer de Santiago
James Sparshatt
Photography - 35 x 35 x 1 cm Photography - 13.8 x 13.8 x 0.4 inch
€725
La dama de la plaza
James Sparshatt
Photography - 35 x 35 x 1 cm Photography - 13.8 x 13.8 x 0.4 inch
€847
Mon beau miroir. Femme Mursi. Ethiopie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
€1,400
Dans mes bras, 'Souvenirs rêvés'
Jean-Robert Franco
Photography - 70 x 100 cm Photography - 27.6 x 39.4 inch
€1,500
Sans titre 51
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 46 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 18.1 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
€1,100
Sans titre 49
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 46 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 18.1 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
€1,100
Femme masquée 7
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 80 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
€1,600
Femme masquée 5
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 80 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
€1,600
Femme masquée 4
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 80 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
€1,700
Femme masquée 3
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 80 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
€1,600
femme masquée II
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 80 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
€1,600
Yoko Ono in black ribbed sweater, Central Park, NY 1973
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
€2,399
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, MSG, NYC 1972
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
€2,399
Mick Jagger, MSG, NYC 1972
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
€2,399
Mick Jagger, NYC 1972
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
€2,399
Patti Smith & Lou Reed, Ocean Club, NYC 1976
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
€2,399
Sid Vicious, Memphis, 1978
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
€2,399
John Lennon wearing Rockerciser shirt, Hit Factory, NYC
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
€2,878
Prince, Rio De Janeiro 1991
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
€2,878
John Lennon wearing a beige suit, Untermyer Park, Yonkers, NY 1975
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
€2,878
Yoko Ono and John Lennon holding flowers by a tree, Central Park, NYC 1973
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
€2,878
Sid Vicious, I'm a Mess, San Antonio 1978
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
€2,878
John Lennon, Mick Jagger and Yoko Ono, Record Plant, NYC 1972
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
€2,399
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.