Non-fungible tokens (aka NFTs) have seen rapid growth in the year 2021. The trading volume of NFTs surged over $23 billion for the year 2021; $5 billion alone in August 2021 making it a record-breaking month.
Having set the fire for the arts and been an altruist for artists, now NFTs are helping photographers to showcase their skills and earn money with their photos.
Although the trend for NFT photography has started in the year 2021 and there is a lot to come in the upcoming years. As both the photographers and collectors are keen on NFTs, the market for NFT photography is inevitable.
To support the trend and help the photographers, we have made this guide. This guide will help photographers choose the best and apt NFT marketplace. Also, it will give the necessary details of those NFT marketplaces such as fees, royalties, and wallet support.
What is NFT Photography? How will it help photographers?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are pieces of any digital artwork (such as photographs, videos, and domain names) that are minted on the blockchain. The main thing is NFTs are non-interchangeable. I.e. Every NFT is unique.
NFTs are digital assets that prove the ownership of digital items. Ownership details are stored on the blockchain like Ethereum, Solana, or Cardano. Hence, NFT photography is basically a digital asset that is stored on the blockchain.
Not all the time photographers get credits for their photography. Most of the time they remain unrecognized for their works. NFT photography address this issue as it proves the ownership 24/7.
Check out: Best NFT Photography Projects/ Collections.
How to sell photos as NFTs?
Selling photos as NFTs is the same as selling stock photos.
Rather than a physical/ online platform, photographers will list their photos as NFTs on the blockchain. Also, instead of trading fiat money, they will use cryptocurrencies.
Prerequisite: Any cryptocurrency wallet to connect with the NFT marketplace.
To sell photos as NFTs, connect your crypto wallet to the NFT marketplace and follow the on-screen instructions to mint the NFT.
For more detailed information on minting NFTs, check out this guide.
Best NFT Marketplaces for Photography
| NFT Marketplace | Blockchain Support | Fees | Wallet Support | Currency Support | Exclusivity | Royalties |
| OpenSea | Ethereum, Polygon, and Klaytn | 2.5% | MetaMask, Trust wallet, Fortmatic, and more | Ethereum (ETH)/WETH, USDC, and DAI | Open | Customizable (Up to 10%) |
| Quantum Art | Ethereum | Unknown | WalletConnect and WalletLink compatible wallets | ETH | Application required | Unknown |
| Foundation | Ethereum | 15% | WalletConnect compatible wallets | ETH | Invite-only | 10% |
| MakersPlace | Ethereum | 15% | MetaMask and Civic | ETH and credit card | Invite-only/ Application required | 10% |
| SuperRare | Ethereum | 15% | MetaMask, Fortmatic, and WalletConnect compatible wallets | ETH | Application required | 10% |
| Nifty Gateway | Ethereum | 5% | MetaMask | Credit card, ETH | Application required | 10% |
| Rarible | Ethereum, Tezos, and Flow | 2.5% | MetaMask, Torus, Mobile Wallet, and more. | ETH, RARI, WETH, DAI, ATRI | Open | Customizable |
| Unique One Photo | Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain | 2.5% | WalletConnect compatible wallets | ETH and BNB | Open | Unknown |
| Portion.io | Ethereum and Palm | No fee | MetaMask | ETH | Open | 11% |
| Ephimera | Ethereum | 10% | MetaMask | ETH | Application required | 10% |
1. OpenSea
OpenSea is the largest NFT marketplace in terms of the trading volume. Founded on December 20, 2017, OpenSea caters to millions of traffic every month.
OpenSea is famous for its wide range of currency and wallet support. OpenSea’s core currencies are ETH/ WETH, USDC, and DAI. Apart from this, it accepts over 150 tokens including $UNI and $WHALE.
Talking about the crypto wallets, OpenSea is the only NFT marketplace that supports more number of wallets.
OpenSea is also famous for its feature lazy minting. Lazy minting allows any artists to list their artwork as an NFT without any upfront gas fee.
It hosts a wide range of NFT categories including art, photography, collectibles, domain names, music, sports, and more.
OpenSea is the favorite place for the best NFT photographers including Justin Versano, Drifter Shoots Aka Isaac Wright, Rizacan Kumas, and more.
Best NFT photographs listed on OpenSea include Twin Flames – Collection of 100 Twin Portraits, Where My Vans Go, and Lost Paradise.
OpenSea allows artists to set their royalties anywhere up to 10%.
Fee
OpenSea takes 2.5% on every transaction as a seller fee.
Sellers and buyers of all kinds need to pay a one-time gas fee for account initialization.
Wallet Support
OpenSea supports:
- MetaMask
- Coinbase Wallet
- WalletConnect compatible wallets
- Fortmatic
- Kaikas
- Bitski
- Venly
- Dapper
- Authereum
- Torus
- Portis
- OperaTouch
- Trust Wallet
Blockchain Support
OpenSea supports Ethereum, Polygon, and Klaytn blockchains.
2. Quantum Art
Quantum Art is an NFT marketplace that solely focuses on photography. OpenSea is an OG of the NFT marketplace. Likewise, Quantum Art will be an OG of the NFT photography marketplace.
Quantum Art hosts only the best-curated NFT photographs. Curations are led by the Quantum community and it is a 4 step process:
- Submission of photographs by artists
- Selection will be done for the next round of voting
- Quantum token holders will cast their vote
- The winner will be allowed to mint
The platform works with world-renowned photographers to drop weekly collections.
As an NFT photographer, if you want to be onboard on this exclusive NFT marketplace, you can submit your work here along with your Twitter handle, NFT artworks, project statement, and 10-15 jpegs no longer than 1000 pixels.
Currently, there only 21 NFT photographers are registered on this platform including Alberto Rizzo, Amanda Lopez, Amy Elkins, and Joey L.
Fee
Quantum Art will reveal the fee at the point of sale.
Wallet Support
Quantum Art supports WalletConnect and WalletLink compatible wallets.
Blockchain Support
Quantum Art supports the Ethereum blockchain.
3. Foundation
Foundation is another exclusive marketplace for NFT photographers founded in 2021. This invite-only NFT marketplace is a creator-focused marketplace that helps artists build a stronger connection with their supporters.
In order to get into this NFT marketplace, one must be invited by the other artist on this platform. Any artist in Foundation can invite others after selling at least one NFT.
NFT photographers can set their profile here and wait to get invited.
Foundation is the home for NFT photographers including Vier Bottzzini, Drifter Shoots Aka Isaac Wright, Rizacan Kumas, Eric Rubens, and Jonny Melon.
Artists on the Foundation will get 10% royalty in the case of secondary sales.
Fee
Foundation has a seller fee of 15%.
Wallet Support
At this time, Foundation supports WalletConnect compatible wallets.
Blockchain Support
Foundation supports and runs on Ethereum.
4. MakersPlace
MakersPlace, a premier NFT marketplace hosts rare and authentic digital artworks. Founded in 2016, MakersPlace is the promising NFT marketplace that empowers digital creators around the world.
Creators can sell their authentic and unique editions of photographs or any other digital artwork here. Due to its exclusivity, the platform is being a bit expensive in terms of fees.
Being an invite-only NFT marketplace platform, it maintains its exclusivity. However, artists who wish to join the MakersPlace can apply here.
Take a look at some of the best NFT photographers’ profiles in MakersPlace including Rizacan Kumas, an Istanbul-based photographer, and Vier Bottzzini, an Italian Fine Art landscape photographer.
MakersPlace offers 10% royalties for NFT artists.
Fee
MakersPlace charges 15% of every successful purchase.
Wallet Support
MakersPlace supports MetaMask and Civic wallet.
Blockchain Support
MakersPlace supports and runs on the Ethereum blockchain.
5. SuperRare
SuperRare is the NFT marketplace for unique and authentic NFTs founded in 2018. The platform primarily focuses on the authenticity of digital artwork.
Governed by the network of artists, collectors, and curators, SuperRare onboards only a small number of artists to maintain the platform’s authenticity. Any NFT photography artist can submit their profiles and wait for the approval.
Some of the best NFT photographers including Reuben Wu, Drifter Shoots Aka Isaac Wright, and Eric Rubens have listed their photographs herein SuperRare.
SuperRare pays its artists a royalty of 10%.
Fee
SuperRare charges a 15% seller fee. It is one of the highest fees in the NFT marketplace.
Wallet Support
SuperRare supports MetaMask, Fortmatic, and WalletConnect compatible wallets.
Blockchain Support
SuperRare supports and runs on the Ethereum blockchain.
6. Nifty Gateway
Nifty Gateway is another well-known NFT marketplace after OpenSea. Founded in 2018, Nifty Gateway has attracted many famous NFT artists including Pak, 3LAU, Trevor Jones Art, and more.
Nifty Gateway is famous for curated drops and verified drops. Recently, the platform has announced a feature release that allows users to buy and sell NFTs directly from Ethereum wallet. Artists can save up to 75% on gas fees compared to other NFT marketplaces.
Dave Krugman, a Brooklyn-based NFT photographer profile can be viewed on Nifty Gateway.
Artists on the Nifty Gateway platform will get 10% in royalties if there is any secondary sale of their NFTs.
Fee
Nifty Gateway charges a 5% seller fee.
Wallet Support
Nifty Gateway supports the MetaMask wallet.
Blockchain Support
Nifty Gateway supports and runs on the Ethereum blockchain.
7. Rarible
Rarible is a multi-chain creator-centric NFT marketplace that has its own governance token $RARI that can be used on the platform. The platform has many NFT categories to explore.
Like OpenSea, Rarible also has a feature called ‘lazy minting’ that allows artists to mint NFTs without any upfront gas fee.
Royalties in Rarible are customizable.
Skins / Muses #1 series is one of the most expensive NFT photographs on Rarible.
Fee
Rarible charges a seller fee of 2.5%.
Wallet Support
Rarible supports MetaMask, Torus, Mobile Wallet, Portis, Coinbase, MyEtherWallet, and Fortmatic.
Blockchain Support
Rarible supports Ethereum, Tezos, and Flow blockchains.
8. Unique One Photo
Unique One Photo is the world’s first decentralized NFT photography marketplace. It has a wide range of categories for photographs including Astro, travel, drone, timelapse, wildlife, landscape, and more.
Unlike other NFT marketplaces, there is no centralized authority to control royalties and licenses. Being a Web 3 NFT photography marketplace, it allows photographers to set royalties, selling options, licenses, and certificates of authenticity.
Instead of profiting from photographers, Unique One Photo incentivizes them. Yes, photographers are rewarded with the platform token $FOTO. $FOTO token holders have the ability to vote in contests and on governance decisions.
As this marketplace is in a nascent stage, it needs more photographers to become famous.
Fee
Unique One Photos charges a fee of 2.5%. However, this will be collected from collectors/ buyers not from photographers.
Wallet Support
Unique One Photo supports all WalletConnect compatible wallets.
Blockchain Support
Unique One Photo supports both Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum blockchains.
9. Portion.io
Portion.io is a decentralized NFT marketplace for all kinds of artists founded in 2016. The platform hosts many categories of NFTs including art, fashion, meme, and photography. It also showcases curated NFTs.
Portion has its own token $PRT and allows the token holders to vote on the governance of the platform. The token is also used to grant artists.
Portion offers an 11% royalty for artists in the case of any secondary market sales.
Fee
Portion allows its sellers to keep 100% of the sale.
Wallet Support
Portion supports MetaMask wallet.
Blockchain Support
Portion supports Ethereum blockchain and Palm sidechain.
10. Ephimera
Ephimera is an exclusive NFT marketplace for photographers and galleries worldwide. Founded in 2020, the platform aims to build a vibrant community of photographers. It supports only 1-of-1 artworks not the multiple editions of the same artwork.
Ephimera allows galleries around the world to tokenize their collections through blockchain technology.
Photography artists can apply here to be a part of Ephimera.
This NFT photography marketplace offers a 10% royalty to the artist for secondary sales.
Fee
Ephimera charges a fee of 10% for all primary sales.
Wallet Support
Ephimera supports MetaMask wallet.
Blockchain Support
Ephimera runs on the Ethereum blockchain.
11. Obscura
Obscura is another platform that solely focuses on NFT photography. This platform is for photographers by photographers.
This unique platform operates in seasons that span a total of 4 months.
The NFT photography collections in this platform include The Kabuler, The Royal Pinedo, and Field of Infinity.
Wallet Support
Obscura supports Ledger Live, Tokenary, Infinity Wallet, Wallet 3, Ambire Wallet, and WalletConnect compatible wallets.
Conclusion
All of these NFT marketplaces are worth giving a try for NFT photographers. Apart from the OG marketplaces like OpenSea, SuperRare, Foundation, MakersPlace, NFT photographers must try listing their photographs on the decentralized NFT marketplaces such as Unique One Photo or Portion.io as these might be future OG marketplace for NFT photographs.
