Portrait Photography for Sale
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Michael Jackson VI
David Nutter
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,550
Rémanence la nature des choses
Joël Leick
Photography - 95 x 38 x 2 cm Photography - 37.4 x 15 x 0.8 inch
$792
Watercolor on photo #1
Sanne De Wilde Bénédicte Kurzen
Photography - 21 x 14.85 cm Photography - 8.3 x 5.8 inch
$1,131
Agnès Varda - Les plages d'Agnès
Jean-Loup Gautreau
Photography - 30 x 40 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 inch
$339
Awissa
Claudia van der Starre
Photography - 150 x 100 x 0.5 cm Photography - 59.1 x 39.4 x 0.2 inch
$4,495
La noire idole
Patrick Strajnic
Photography - 70 x 70 x 3 cm Photography - 27.6 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
$1,074
Right-eye Rita
Vesna Jovanovic
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$565 $481
El Pana. La México, CDMX.
Andrés Calamaro
Photography - 40 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$8,878
Adriana Karembeu
Klaus Roethlisberger
Photography - 70 x 54 x 0.2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 21.3 x 0.1 inch
$611
Life in the Carpathians, Romania
Antonis Anagnostou
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$1,125
Lewis / Paris Match
Philippe Le Tellier
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,809
Autoportrait
Maurice Lemaître
Photography - 45 x 30.5 x 1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 12 x 0.4 inch
$905
La Nageuse - Série Clope
Johan Desma
Photography - 80 x 120 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 inch
$2,137
Photographie de John Steinbeck
Roy Schatt
Photography - 24 x 23 x 1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 9.1 x 0.4 inch
$780
Impression #2
Karine Nicolleau
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$283
The music inside
Andreas Sundgren
Photography - 140 x 105 x 0.1 cm Photography - 55.1 x 41.3 x 0 inch
$3,441
Open Spaces Phobia
Cristina Rizzi Guelfi
Photography - 30 x 90 x 3 cm Photography - 11.8 x 35.4 x 1.2 inch
$707
Rod Stewart & Britt Ekland – Beverly Hills, 1976
David Salle
Photography - 137 x 100 x 0.01 cm Photography - 53.9 x 39.4 x 0 inch
$4,806
Wrapped series untitled #2
Robert Mack
Photography - 86.4 x 58.4 x 2.5 cm Photography - 34 x 23 x 1 inch
$4,250
Adriana Rayén
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
$1,456
''Gunina''en Givenchy, Paris le 5 Août 1955 Elle Magazine
Georges Dambier
Photography - 74 x 68 x 2 cm Photography - 29.1 x 26.8 x 0.8 inch
$3,958
Prelude to an escape
Katia Chausheva
Photography - 48 x 33 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18.9 x 13 x 0.1 inch
$905
We the Living
Hollie Miller
Photography - 21.2 x 37.5 x 0.2 cm Photography - 8.3 x 14.8 x 0.1 inch
$622
Happy to be here
Kramer O'Neill
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$679
Michael Jackson, Mohamed Ali and wife Veronica NYC 1977
Ron Galella
Photography - 50 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$5,541
Wicked Game | Ponza, Italy
Serge Guerand
Photography - 53 x 80 cm Photography - 20.9 x 31.5 inch
$2,239
1979 South Korean Blue Figure Collection MMCA Museum Modern Contemporary Art Seoul
Boong Hyun Choi
Photography - 40 x 40 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 inch
$2,149
Frida her life art and loves
Thomas Dellert
Photography - 70 x 70 x 3 cm Photography - 27.6 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
$4,071
Children of Bafmeng / Their life-Cameroon
Gilbert Ryu
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$848
Belmondo / Paris Match (1)
Gragnon François
Photography - 75 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$2,262
Salvador Dali / Paris Match
Patrice Habans
Photography - 52 x 78 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.5 x 30.7 x 0 inch
$1,809
The kharoub's seller
Miguel Angel Sanchez
Photography - 100 x 75 x 1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.4 inch
$792
Dis, quand reviendras-tu ? 3
Charlotte Skurzak
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$679
Dietrich / Paris Match
Paul Slade
Photography - 80 x 53 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 20.9 x 0 inch
$1,809
The Beatles / Paris Match
André Lefebvre
Photography - 53 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.9 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,262
Bardot - Caron / Paris Match
Michou Simon
Photography - 50 x 75 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0 inch
$2,036
Guerre d'Algérie, 1962
Maurice Jarnoux
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$679
Kelly, Aumont / Paris Match
Jack Garofalo & Michou Simon
Photography - 55 x 55 x 0.1 cm Photography - 21.7 x 21.7 x 0 inch
$1,809
Lis Lève toi et Marche
Olivier Rebecq
Photography - 75 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$656
Ecologia Profonda, Selfportrait
Chiara Mazzocchi
Photography - 50 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.1 inch
$560
The frozen few 5546
Götz Göppert
Photography - 80 x 120 x 4 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 1.6 inch
$763
Charito Zarate Torino
Ryan Arbilo
Photography - 50 x 70 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.4 inch
$905
Famille Pignatelli, Rome, 1987
Patrick Faigenbaum
Photography - 50.2 x 60.8 cm Photography - 19.8 x 23.9 inch
$1,696
Nicolas de Staël dans son atelier
Denise Colomb
Photography - 30.8 x 38 cm Photography - 12.1 x 15 inch
$1,809
Série Young Pioneer : NO.1 Lunar probe
Chen Man
Photography - 135 x 135 x 1 cm Photography - 53.1 x 53.1 x 0.4 inch
$15,832
In the great of your wings
Cecilia Paredes
Photography - 120 x 120 x 5 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 2 inch
$14,500
Les invisibles, La Plage, Calais
Aglaé Bory
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$792
Existing in Costume – Crime of Flying in the sky with broomstick
Chan-Hyo Bae
Photography - 180 x 270 cm Photography - 70.9 x 106.3 inch
$8,595
Wild wild west
Scott Weingarten
Photography - 70 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 27.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
$5,654
Solitude
Forough Yavari
Photography - 25.4 x 101.6 x 0.1 cm Photography - 10 x 40 x 0.025 inch
$3,100
Portrait of Sabau (too much pressure)
Andrei Cristian Petrescu
Photography - 80 x 60 x 4 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
$3,958
The Eyes Never Lie
Edu Danesi X Renaud Corlouër
Photography - 120 x 120 x 4 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 1.6 inch
$7,351
Sergei Sviatchenko - Capacity For Conjuring Illusion 8
Sergei Sviatchenko
Photography - 36 x 26 cm Photography - 14.2 x 10.2 inch
$3,393
Bardot 2017 - Diamond dust
Russel Young
Photography - 90 x 74 x 1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 29.1 x 0.4 inch
$9,047
Golden Nude Kate Moss 1993
Thiery Le Gouès
Photography - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$13,571
Losing My Religion
Swanet Muskee
Photography - 94 x 76 x 2 cm Photography - 37 x 29.9 x 0.8 inch
$4,467
Blue Eyed Michael Jackson, 1999
Arno Bani
Photography - 90 x 70 x 3 cm Photography - 35.4 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
$13,571
Stigmates Oeuvre 1
Joseph Caprio
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$859
Christian Lattier Portrait
Christian Lattier
Photography - 17.5 x 16.5 cm Photography - 6.9 x 6.5 inch
$5,541
Asian tourist in front of Gudvangen
Hans Kristian Riise
Photography - 64 x 79 x 3 cm Photography - 25.2 x 31.1 x 1.2 inch
$2,827
White Dancer
Ulrich Trüssel
Photography - 93 x 93 x 3 cm Photography - 36.6 x 36.6 x 1.2 inch
$3,393
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.