While NFT art has been widely covered, NFT photography has slipped under the zeitgeist radar, but it is one of the fastest and most respected uses of non-fungible tokens. New and experienced photographers are finding new places to sell their work as NFTs, at NFT markets and in galleries that support NFTs.
So, what are NFTs? Simply put, non-fungible tokens are a way to record a digital file in a blockchain where it cannot be deleted, edited or destroyed. The data held by the NFT can be viewed, tracked and traced, ensuring ownership of the digital file.
Smart contracts govern how an NFT can be sold or held, meaning you can make money from future sales even if you sell the NFT image, or you can give away all ownership and allow the community to use the NFT photography as they see fit wishes, for example in their art, videos and installations.
NFTs are not as complex as you might think, and as blockchains and NFT marketplaces become more accessible, the mists surrounding this technology are disappearing. Read our guides to the best NFT marketplaces and NFT crypto for a better, detailed explanation. Consider essentially NFT photos sold on a marketplace, such as Seed.photo (opens in a new tab), to be akin to a photo archive, but one where you own and have total control over every use and reuse, copyright and ownership. This may include digital files and physical prints. (The wonderful photo above is of Ivan Kovalev (opens in a new tab)a regular contributor to Seed.photo.)
A 2021 report in Forbes estimated that the NFT photography market was worth over $23 billion last year. While NFTs declined in popularity in 2022 as the general economy has declined, they have seen a surge in interest in recent months. According to the tracking page CryptpSlam (opens in a new tab) the value of NFT sales increased by 13.2% in November and individual NFT sales increased by 18.75%. What we’re likely to see is that investors have left and collectors, the ones who really support creatives, artists and photographers, are back and buying. Now might be the best time to start your NFT photography career.
NFT photography: what are NFT photos?
For photographers, NFTs are a new way to monetize your work, and you can protect your digital images when you use them online or lease and sell them. An NFT registers your image on a blockchain as a unique piece of code, when you “coin” your image as an NFT you essentially sell the ability to sell this “code” and the registration, and the smart contract that goes with it.
You don’t even need to include the original image on the NFT contract, you can keep the copyright and essentially sell the usage rights to a collector. Or you can sell the original and retain secondary sales rights, meaning you and the buyer can also profit from resales and how the image is used. It’s really up to you and the project you’re creating.
NFT photography can be similar to linear photography, with portraits and landscapes proving popular, such as Eric Rubens (opens in a new tab) selling atmospheric coastal images to his million-strong fan base. But NFT images can be more, and often popular photographers are the ones who bend the rules, embrace photoshop or include illustrations, such as Justin Aversano’s 364-image series called Cogintion (opens in a new tab)which was established within a year.
Similarly, at Seed.photo, a specialist NFT photography marketplace, Ivan Kovalev creates dramatic landscape and portrait shots. His long-exposure landscape image called Sukko won the “My Planet” award (opens in a new tab) for best NFT photography on Seed.photo.
NFT Photography: How to Sell
Over the past year, buying and selling NFTs has become increasingly easier as non-fungible token marketplaces begin to move away from the NFT jargon and complexity of blockchains, for example, most NFT marketplaces now accept debit and credit cards as currency and not just cryptocurrency.
To sell an NFT you still need a cryptocurrency wallet, but don’t worry, it’s easy to set up. My wallet of choice is MetaMask as it is safe and secure and easily connects to all the major marketplaces. Just like my guide on how to make an NFT for free, your crypto wallet for NFT images becomes a passport to access various marketplaces, your purchases and sales are held in this wallet.
One of the new NFT photography marketplaces is Seed.photo, which has an easy onboarding process and lots of help for newcomers, including a good FAQ and How It Works section (opens in a new tab) where all your questions are answered.
Just set up your wallet (follow the app’s instructions, it’s easy), and save your Seed Phrase, this is your backup password. Once your wallet is connected to a marketplace, you can start making NFTs from your photos. Just upload your image, fill in metadata and descriptions, and create. You have to pay “gas” fees to mint NFT – this is the cost of registering NFT on your chosen blockchain (Ethereum is the most popular, but you can also use Palm, Polygon, Solana and others and these can be cheaper) .
You can create the NFT image for free by using “lazy coining” which places the gas fee on the buyer instead of you, the seller. The downside is that NFT technically does not exist on a blockchain until purchased and will often be encountered in a marketplace search, making it harder to get noticed and sell. Lazy minting is good for testing how the process works, but ultimately you need to mint NFTs correctly.
NFT photography: where to sell
When it comes to selling NFT photography, the best NFT marketplaces are similar to those for NFT art sales. Below are some of the best and most popular NFT marketplaces for photography.
- Open sea (opens in a new tab): the largest NFT marketplace around sells everything.
- SuperRare (opens in a new tab): This is a great place to sell 1/1 NFT images as it seeks rare images.
- Seed photo (opens in a new tab): a new and dedicated marketplace for NFT photography.
- Foundation (opens in a new tab): one of the best places for artistic and experimental photography
- Nice gateway (opens in a new tab): a good NFT photo marketplace for professionals.
Just because you sell your images as NFTs doesn’t mean you should forget about physical sales and exhibitions of your work. You can attach an NFT to a photo print and sell the two together, you can create a series of NFT photos to display in a gallery, and you can create 1/1 NFT Photography – single, unique images.
For example, the photograph of William John Kennedy (opens in a new tab) have recently been exhibited and sold as both physical prints and NFTs at the NFT Gallery in London. The exhibition is impressive, and you can read more in my visit to the gallery, where I took a closer look at the NFT display at the tokenframe and the images of William John Kennedy.
NFT photography: make money
Yes, that’s the point, but how much money you make is up to you and your talent. More so, the NFT community is about more than just taking pictures and reselling them, it’s about the story behind them, the ideas, and most importantly you as a photographer. You need to embrace social media, and especially Discord, to reach this new NFT community.
There are different ways to sell NFT images – as airdrops, auctions and as collections. All of these ways of selling tell a story about you and how you want the NFT photograph to be used and viewed. You can earn a minimum of $1000 a month, or you can collect a collection or a 1/1 NFT image and auction it for hundreds of thousands of dollars (if you’re lucky or popular). It’s up to you and your imagination.
One of the best and most popular NFT photographers is Drift. This former Special Forces officer turned to photography to help overcome his PTSD, and after embracing NFT photography, he found a community and collectors eager to embrace his images – all of which revolve around elevated panoramas of urban areas taken by free-climbing skyscrapers and bridges. Visit Drift’s website (opens in a new tab) for his story and NFT photography.
Of course, you don’t have to go to these lengths. As with all photography, your skills and vision will win you fans, so practice and experiment with new approaches and subjects – the only rule of NFT photography is that anything goes.
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