Skip to main content

Portrait Photography

to
354
3,990
2,794
967
755
1,644
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
6
3,416
6,735
1
2
11
67
80
416
567
443
486
878
4,324
663
483
95
42
14
14
13
9
6
5
3
4,598
3,808
1,728
6,712
3,822
3,787
2,728
2,618
2,586
1,661
687
669
602
568
553
543
512
497
438
426
396
376
350
5,606
4,120
3,875
3,738
3,588
2,375
206
191
135
118
1,247
3,571
7,359
2,175
Portrait Photography For Sale
Style: Contemporary
Style: Impressionist
My own private Travel Diary - Bishop, CA - Autumn
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
My own private Travel Diary - Bishop, CA - Autumn - 2001, 20x29cm, Edition of 10, plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on a Polaroid Slide. Signature label and Certificate. Not mounted. LIFE’S A DREAM (The Personal World of Stefanie Schneider) by Mark Gisbourne Projection is a form of apparition that is characteristic of our human nature, for what we imagine almost invariably transcends the reality of what we live. And, an apparition, as the word suggests, is quite literally ‘an appearing’, for what we appear to imagine is largely shaped by the imagination of its appearance. If this sounds tautological then so be it. But the work of Stefanie Schneider is almost invariably about chance and apparition. And, it is through the means of photography, the most apparitional of image-based media, that her pictorial narratives or photo-novels are generated. Indeed, traditional photography (as distinct from new digital technology) is literally an ‘awaiting’ for an appearance to take place, in line with the imagined image as executed in the camera and later developed in the dark room. The fact that Schneider uses out-of-date Polaroid film stock to take her pictures only intensifies the sense of their apparitional contents when they are realised. The stability comes only at such time when the images are re-shot and developed in the studio, and thereby fixed or arrested temporarily in space and time. The unpredictable and at times unstable film she adopts for her works also creates a sense of chance within the outcome that can be imagined or potentially envisaged by the artist Schneider. But this chance manifestation is a loosely controlled, or, better called existential sense of chance, which becomes pre-disposed by the immediate circumstances of her life and the project she is undertaking at the time. Hence the choices she makes are largely open-ended choices, driven by a personal nature and disposition allowing for a second appearing of things whose eventual outcome remains undefined. And, it is the alliance of the chance-directed material apparition of Polaroid film, in turn explicitly allied to the experiences of her personal life circumstances, that provokes the potential to create Stefanie Schneider’s open-ended narratives. Therefore they are stories based on a degenerate set of conditions that are both material and human, with an inherent pessimism and a feeling for the sense of sublime ridicule being seemingly exposed. This in turn echoes and doubles the meaning of the verb ‘to expose’. To expose being embedded in the technical photographic process, just as much as it is in the narrative contents of Schneider’s photo-novel exposés. The former being the unstable point of departure, and the latter being the uncertain ends or meanings that are generated through the photographs doubled exposure. The large number of speculative theories of apparition, literally read as that which appears, and/or creative visions in filmmaking and photography are self-evident, and need not detain us here. But from the earliest inception of photography artists have been concerned with manipulated and/or chance effects, be they directed towards deceiving the viewer, or the alchemical investigations pursued by someone like Sigmar Polke. None of these are the real concern of the artist-photographer Stefanie Schneider, however, but rather she is more interested with what the chance-directed appearances in her photographs portend. For Schneider’s works are concerned with the opaque and porous contents of human relations and events, the material means are largely the mechanism to achieving and exposing the ‘ridiculous sublime’ that has come increasingly to dominate the contemporary affect(s) of our world. The uncertain conditions of today’s struggles as people attempt to relate to each other - and to themselves - are made manifest throughout her work. And, that she does this against the backdrop of the so-called ‘American Dream’, of a purportedly advanced culture that is Modern America, makes them all the more incisive and critical as acts of photographic exposure. From her earliest works of the late nineties one might be inclined to see her photographs as if they were a concerted attempt at an investigative or analytic serialisation, or, better still, a psychoanalytic dissection of the different and particular genres of American subculture. But this is to miss the point for the series though they have dates and subsequent publications remain in a certain sense unfinished. Schneider’s work has little or nothing to do with reportage as such, but with recording human culture in a state of fragmentation and slippage. And, if a photographer like Diane Arbus dealt specifically with the anomalous and peculiar that made up American suburban life, the work of Schneider touches upon the alienation of the commonplace. That is to say how the banal stereotypes of Western Americana have been emptied out, and claims as to any inherent meaning they formerly possessed has become strangely displaced. Her photographs constantly fathom the familiar, often closely connected to traditional American film genre, and make it completely unfamiliar. Of course Freud would have called this simply the unheimlich or uncanny. But here again Schneider almost never plays the role of the psychologist, or, for that matter, seeks to impart any specific meanings to the photographic contents of her images. The works possess an edited behavioural narrative (she has made choices), but there is never a sense of there being a clearly defined story. Indeed, the uncertainty of my reading here presented, acts as a caveat to the very condition that Schneider’s photographs provoke. Invariably the settings of her pictorial narratives are the South West of the United States, most often the desert and its periphery in Southern California. The desert is a not easily identifiable space, with the suburban boundaries where habitation meets the desert even more so. There are certain sub-themes common to Schneider’s work, not least that of journeying, on the road, a feeling of wandering and itinerancy, or simply aimlessness. Alongside this subsidiary structural characters continually appear, the gas station, the automobile, the motel, the highway, the revolver, logos and signage, the wasteland, the isolated train track and the trailer. If these form a loosely defined structure into which human characters and events are cast, then Schneider always remains the fulcrum and mechanism of their exposure. Sometimes using actresses, friends, her sister, colleagues or lovers, Schneider stands by to watch the chance events as they unfold. And, this is even the case when she is a participant in front of camera of her photo-novels. It is the ability to wait and throw things open to chance and to unpredictable circumstances, that marks the development of her work over the last eight years. It is the means by which random occurrences take on such a telling sense of pregnancy in her work. However, in terms of analogy the closest proximity to Schneider’s photographic work is that of film. For many of her titles derive directly from film, in photographic series like OK Corral (1999), Vegas (1999), Westworld (1999), Memorial Day (2001), Primary Colours (2001), Suburbia (2004), The Last Picture Show (2005), and in other examples. Her works also include particular images that are titled Zabriskie Point, a photograph of her sister in an orange wig. Indeed the tentative title for the present publication Stranger Than Paradise is taken from Jim Jarmusch’s film of the same title in 1984. Yet it would be dangerous to take this comparison too far, since her series 29 Palms (1999) presages the later title of a film that appeared only in 2002. What I am trying to say here is that film forms the nexus of American culture, and it is not so much that Schneider’s photographs make specific references to these films (though in some instances they do), but that in referencing them she accesses the same American culture that is being emptied out and scrutinised by her photo-novels. In short her pictorial narratives might be said to strip films of the stereotypical Hollywood tropes that many of them possess. Indeed, the films that have most inspired her are those that similarly deconstruct the same sentimental and increasingly tawdry ‘American Dream’ peddled by Hollywood. These include films like David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990) The Lost Highway (1997), John Dahl’s The Last Seduction (1994) or films like Ridley Scott’s Thelma and Louise with all its girl-power Bonny and Clyde-type clichés. But they serve no more than as a backdrop, a type of generic tableau from which Schneider might take human and abstracted elements, for as commercial films they are not the product of mere chance and random occurrence. Notwithstanding this observation, it is also clear that the gender deconstructions that the characters in these films so often portray, namely the active role of women possessed of a free and autonomous sexuality (even victim turned vamp), frequently find resonances within the behavioural events taking place in Schneider’s photographs and DVD sequences; the same sense of sexual autonomy that Stefanie Schneider possesses and is personally committed to. In the series 29 Palms (first begun in 1999) the two women characters Radha and Max act out a scenario that is both infantile and adolescent. Wearing brightly coloured fake wigs of yellow and orange, a parody of the blonde and the redhead, they are seemingly trailer park white trash possessing a sentimental and kitsch taste in clothes totally inappropriate to the locality. The fact that Schneider makes no judgment about this is an interesting adjunct. Indeed, the photographic projection of the images is such that the girls incline themselves to believe that they are both beautiful and desirous. However, unlike the predatory role of women in say Richard Prince’s photographs, which are simply a projection of a male fantasy onto women, Radha and Max are self-contained in their vacuous if empty trailer and motel world of the swimming pool, nail polish, and childish water pistols. Within the photographic sequence Schneider includes herself, and acts as a punctum of disruption. Why is she standing in front of an Officers’ Wives Club? Why is Schneider not similarly attired? Is there a proximity to an army camp, are these would-be Lolita(s) Rahda and Max wives or American marine groupies, and where is the centre and focus of their identity? It is the ambiguity of personal involvement that is set up by Schneider which deliberately makes problematic any clear sense of narrative construction. The strangely virulent colours of the bleached-out girls stand in marked contrast to Schneider’s own anodyne sense of self-image. Is she identifying with the contents or directing the scenario? With this series, perhaps, more than any other, Schneider creates a feeling of a world that has some degree of symbolic order. For example the girls stand or squat by a dirt road, posing the question as to their sexual and personal status. Following the 29 Palms series, Schneider will trust herself increasingly by diminishing the sense of a staged environment. The events to come will tell you both everything and nothing, reveal and obfuscate, point towards and simultaneously away from any clearly definable meaning. If for example we compare 29 Palms to say Hitchhiker (2005), and where the sexual contents are made overtly explicit, we do not find the same sense of simulated identity. It is the itinerant coming together of two characters Daisy and Austen, who meet on the road and subsequently share a trailer together. Presented in a sequential DVD and still format, we become party to a would-be relationship of sorts. No information is given as to the background or social origins, or even any reasons as to why these two women should be attracted to each other. Is it acted out? Are they real life experiences? They are women who are sexually free in expressing themselves. But while the initial engagement with the subject is orchestrated by Schneider, and the edited outcome determined by the artist, beyond that we have little information with which to construct a story. The events are commonplace, edgy and uncertain, but the viewer is left to decide as to what they might mean as a narrative. The disaggregated emotions of the work are made evident, the game or role playing, the transitory fantasies palpable, and yet at the same time everything is insubstantial and might fall apart at any moment. The characters relate but they do not present a relationship in any meaningful sense. Or, if they do, it is one driven the coincidental juxtaposition of random emotions. Should there be an intended syntax it is one that has been stripped of the power to grammatically structure what is being experienced. And, this seems to be the central point of the work, the emptying out not only of a particular American way of life, but the suggestion that the grounds upon which it was once predicated are no longer possible. The photo-novel Hitchhiker is porous and the culture of the seventies which it might be said to homage is no longer sustainable. Not without coincidence, perhaps, the decade that was the last ubiquitous age of Polaroid film. In the numerous photographic series, some twenty or so, that occur between 29 Palms and Hitchhiker, Schneider has immersed herself and scrutinised many aspects of suburban, peripheral, and scrubland America. Her characters, including herself, are never at the centre of cultural affairs. Such eccentricities as they might possess are all derived from what could be called their adjacent status to the dominant culture of America. In fact her works are often sated with references to the sentimental sub-strata that underpin so much of American daily life. It is the same whether it is flower gardens and household accoutrements of her photo-series Suburbia (2004), or the transitional and environmental conditions depicted in The Last Picture Show (2005). The artist’s use of sentimental song titles, often adapted to accompany individual images within a series by Schneider, show her awareness of America’s close relationship between popular film and music. For example the song ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’, becomes Leaving in a Jet Plane as part of The Last Picture Show series, while the literalism of the plane in the sky is shown in one element of this diptych, but juxtaposed to a blonde-wigged figure first seen in 29 Palms. This indicates that every potential narrative element is open to continual reallocation in what amounts to a story without end. And, the interchangeable nature of the images, like a dream, is the state of both a pictorial and affective flux that is the underlying theme pervading Schneider’s photo-narratives. For dream is a site of yearning or longing, either to be with or without, a human pursuit of a restless but uncertain alternative to our daily reality. The scenarios that Schneider sets up nonetheless have to be initiated by the artist. And, this might be best understood by looking at her three recent DVD sequenced photo-novels, Reneé’s Dream and Sidewinder (2005). We have already considered the other called Hitchhiker. In the case of Sidewinder the scenario was created by internet where she met J.D. Rudometkin, an ex-theologian, who agreed to her idea to live with her for five weeks in the scrubland dessert environment of Southern California. The dynamics and unfolding of their relationship, both sexually and emotionally, became the primary subject matter of this series of photographs. The relative isolation and their close proximity, the interactive tensions, conflicts and submissions, are thus recorded to reveal the day-to-day evolution of their relationship. That a time limit was set on this relation-based experiment was not the least important aspect of the project. The text and music accompanying the DVD were written by the American Rudometkin, who speaks poetically of “Torn Stevie. Scars from the weapon to her toes an accidental act of God her father said. On Vaness at California.” The mix of hip reverie and fantasy-based language of his text, echoes the chaotic unfolding of their daily life in this period, and is evident in the almost sun-bleached Polaroid images like Whisky Dance, where the two abandon themselves to the frenetic circumstances of the moment. Thus Sidewinder, a euphemism for both a missile and a rattlesnake, hints at the libidinal and emotional dangers that were risked by Schneider and Rudometkin. Perhaps, more than any other of her photo-novels it was the most spontaneous and immediate, since Schneider’s direct participation mitigated against and narrowed down the space between her life and the art work. The explicit and open character of their relationship at this time (though they have remained friends), opens up the question as the biographical role Schneider plays in all her work. She both makes and directs the work while simultaneously dwelling within the artistic processes as they unfold. Hence she is both author and character, conceiving the frame within which things will take place, and yet subject to the same unpredictable outcomes that emerge in the process. In Reneé’s Dream, issues of role reversal take place as the cowgirl on her horse undermines the male stereotype of Richard Prince’s ‘Marlboro Country’. This photo-work along with several others by Schneider, continue to undermine the focus of the male gaze, for her women are increasingly autonomous and subversive. They challenge the male role of sexual predator, often taking the lead and undermining masculine role play, trading on male fears that their desires can be so easily attained. That she does this by working through archetypal male conventions of American culture, is not the least of the accomplishments in her work. What we are confronted with frequently is of an idyll turned sour, the filmic clichés that Hollywood and American television dramas have promoted for fifty years. The citing of this in the Romantic West, where so many of the male clichés were generated, only adds to the diminishing sense of substance once attributed to these iconic American fabrications. And, that she is able to do this through photographic images rather than film, undercuts the dominance espoused by time-based film. Film feigns to be seamless though we know it is not. Film operates with a story board and setting in which scenes are elaborately arranged and pre-planned. Schneider has thus been able to generate a genre of fragmentary events, the assemblage of a story without a storyboard. But these post-narratological stories require another component, and that component is the viewer who must bring their own interpretation as to what is taking place. If this can be considered the upside of her work, the downside is that she never positions herself by giving a personal opinion as to the events that are taking place in her photographs. But, perhaps, this is nothing more than her use of the operation of chance dictates. I began this essay by speaking about the apparitional contents of Stefanie Schneider’s pictorial narratives, and meant at that time the literal and chance-directed ‘appearing’ qualities of her photographs. Perhaps, at this moment we should also think of the metaphoric contents of the word apparition. There is certainly a spectre-like quality also, a ghostly uncertainty about many of the human experiences found in her subject matter. Is it that the subculture of the American Dream, or the way of life Schneider has chosen to record, has in turn become also the phantom of it former self? Are these empty and fragmented scenarios a mirror of what has become of contemporary America? There is certainly some affection for their contents on the part of the artist, but it is somehow tainted with pessimism and the impossibility of sustainable human relations, with the dissolute and commercial distractions of America today. Whether this is the way it is, or, at least, the way it is perceived by Schneider is hard to assess. There is a bleak lassitude about so many of her characters. But then again the artist has so inured herself into this context over a long protracted period that the boundaries between the events and happenings photographed, and the personal life of Stefanie Schneider, have become similarly opaque. Is it the diagnosis of a condition, or just a recording of a phenomenon? Only the viewer can decide this question. For the status of Schneider’s certain sense of uncertainty is, perhaps, the only truth we may ever know.

1 Kerry Brougher (ed.), Art and Film Since 1945: Hall of Mirrors, ex. cat., The Museum of Contemporary Art (New York, 1996) 2 Im Reich der Phantome: Fotographie des Unsichtbaren, ex. cat., Städtisches Museum Abteiberg Mönchengladbach/Kunsthalle Krems/FotomuseumWinterthur, (Ostfildern-Ruit, 1997) 3 Photoworks: When Pictures Vanish – Sigmar Polke, Museum of Contemporary Art (Zürich-Berlin-New York, 1995) 4 Slavoj Žižek, The Art of the Ridiculous Sublime: On David Lynch’s Lost Highway, Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities, University of Washington, Seattle, Occasional Papers, no. 1, 2000. 5 Diane Arbus, eds. Doon Arbus, and Marvin Israel...
Category

1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid

Half Angels Half Demons - Cow #3, Portrait, Limited edition color photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Half Angels Half Demons - Cow #3, 2000 by Mauricio Velez Color Photography Archival Pigment Print Image size: 39.4 in. H x 39.4 in. W Edition of 9 + 2AP "In a few photographers like...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Color, Archival Pigment

Africa, Painted Faces, Tribal Women Ethiopia, Photography on Japanese Paper
Located in New york, NY
Painted Faces, 1996 by Jean-Michel Voge, is a contemporary color photograph 13" x 19" of two women with painted faces from the Surma tribe in the Omo Valley in Ethiopia, Africa. Th...
Category

1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digi...

Elizabeth Taylor on the Set of Giant
Located in Austin, TX
Beautiful selectively colorized image of actress Elizabeth Taylor on the set of the 1956 film Giant. Giant is a 1956 American epic Western drama film, about sprawling epic covering the life of a Texas cattle rancher and his family and associates. Directed by George Stevens from a screenplay adapted by Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat from Edna Ferber...
Category

1950s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Jayne Mansfield in Coat
Located in Austin, TX
Black and white portrait of Jayne Mansfield posed in coat, circa 1955. Jayne Mansfield was an American actress and Playboy Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s, Mansf...
Category

1950s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

New York, Policeman with Puppet and Gun, Black and White Limited Ed Photography
Located in New york, NY
Policeman with Puppet and Gun, New York City, USA 1979 by Leonard Freed is a black and white limited edition photograph from Freed's Policework series. The photograph, 13" x 19" is an archival pigment print with the photographer's copyright stamp and estate signature by the photographer's widow, Brigitte Freed. The print is in an edition of 10. Available: 1/10, 10/10. Provenance: Freed Estate *** Artist’s Bio: Leonard Freed (1929-2006) was an American photographer from Brooklyn, New York. His "Black in White America" series made him known as a documentarian, a social documentary photographer. Freed worked as a freelance photographer from 1961 onwards and as a Magnum photographer Freed traveled widely abroad and, in the US, photographing African Americans (1964-65), events in Israel (1967-68, 1973), and the New York City police department (1972-79). Freed's coverage of the American civil rights...
Category

1970s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Digital, Archival Pigme...

Diane Sawyer
Located in New York, NY
Diane Sawyer Archival pigment print image size: 48 x 48 inches Signed and numbered edition of 25 William Coupon is an American photographer, born in New York City, known principally...
Category

1980s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Sleeping Beauties II (Till Death do us Part) Contemporary, Woman, Polaroid
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Sleeping Beauties (Till Death do us Part) - 2005, 20x20cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the original Polaroid. Signature label and certificate....
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print, Color, Polaroid, Photographic Paper, Archival Paper

The Diva and the Boy (Beachshoot) - 9 pieces - Polaroid, Vintage, Contemporary
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
The Diva and the Boy (Beachshoot) - 2005 Edition of 10 plus 2 artist Proofs. 37x36cm each, installed 126x123cm. 9 archival C-Prints, based on the 9 Polaroids. Certificate and Sig...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid

David Bowie, New York, 21st Century, Contemporary, Celebrity, Photography
Located in München, BY
Edition 10 Also available in 40 x 50 cm / 16 x 20 inch, Edition 25 Black and white portrait of Singer and Songwriter David Bowie with guitar. From personality portraits and advert...
Category

1980s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Sitting Lionesses, Serengeti – Nick Brandt, Lion, Lioness, Africa, Animals, Wild
Located in Zurich, CH
NICK BRANDT (*1966, England) Sitting Lionesses, Serengeti 2002 Platinum print Image 69.5 x 88 cm (27 3/8 x 34 5/8 in.) Sheet 76.5 x 99 cm (30 1/8 x 39 in.) Edition of 25; Ed. no. 16/25 Framed Nick Brandt is a contemporary English photographer. His work focuses on the disappearing natural world. Since 2001, he has photographed the changing African continent and established a style of portrait photography of animals...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Platinum

Francis Ford Coppola, Contemporary, Celebrity, Photography, Portrait
Located in München, BY
Combined Edition 25 Also available in 50 x 60 cm/ 20 x 24 inch and as combined Edition 10 in 76 x 101 cm / 30 x 40 inch 101 x 127 cm / 40 x 50 inch Portrait of American retired fil...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Rimon, Photography, Limited Edition
Located in München, BY
Limited Edition of 10 Framed size 27 x 37 cm All works are Archival Pigment prints, floating in an all black wooden frame behind museums glass.  More sizes on request. Sara Punt's w...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

James Dean Smiling
Located in Austin, TX
Black and white capture of star actor James Dean candid and smiling. James Dean was an American actor with a career that lasted five years. His roles typified the teenage disillusio...
Category

1950s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Salvador Dali in Venice
Located in Austin, TX
Photo of Salvador Dali in Venice holding cane and looking up. Salvador Dali was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking...
Category

1960s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Actor Girl II (29 Palms, CA)- including the book 'A Half Forgotten Dream'
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Actor Girl II (Stage of Consciousness) - 2008 including Stefanie Schneider's new monograph "A Half Forgotten Dream" signed. 192 pages, hardcover, published by Snap Collective, 2024....
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid

Audrey Hepburn Smiling with Dog
Located in Austin, TX
Unique black and white capture of actress Audrey Hepburn smiling while holding a pet Yorkie. Audrey Hepburn was a British actress. Hepburn had a successful career in Hollywood and w...
Category

1960s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Al Pacino Smoking, 21st Century, Contemporary, Celebrity, Photography
Located in München, BY
Edition 25 Also available in 101 x 127 cm / 40 x 50 inch, Edition 10 Black and white portrait of famous actor Al Pacino smoking. From personality portraits and advertising campaig...
Category

1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

World Class Racing Yachts in Italy, Nautical, Horizontal, Iconic
Located in US
"Rainbow Trailed" The J-Class boats Rainbow and Velsheda sail at near impossible angles as the sailors freely dangle their feet over the edge of the deck. This award-winning image is in the permanent collection of the Mariners' Museum, Newport News...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Jayne Mansfield on Balcony
Located in Austin, TX
Jayne Mansfield visits Villa Borghese, Rome Italy 1964. Jayne Mansfield was an American actress and Playboy Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s, Mansfield was known ...
Category

1960s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Oui, mon Cul #11 [Les Foxy Femmes de Carmen De Vos] - Polaroid, Color
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Oui, mon Cul #11, 2015 [Les Foxy Femmes de Carmen De Vos] 30x25cm, edition of 7 Archival color print based on original Polaroid on beautiful PHOTO RAG ULTRA SMOOTH 305gsm - 100% cot...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Color, Archival Pigment, Polaroid

Marilyn Monroe Smiling in Jewels
Located in Austin, TX
Second in its series, this awesome black and white capture features Marilyn Monroe in her Hollywood prime - captured in a silk dress and fur stole. Classic image of the Hollywood l...
Category

1950s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment

Ezra, color photograph from Homegrown, limited edition, signed and numbered
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Ezra is a color photograph from Homegrown and is signed and numbered by the artist “When I began taking pictures,” Blackmon says, “ I was primarily interested in documenting the l...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Boy George, Contemporary, Celebrity, Photography, Portrait
Located in München, BY
Combined Edition 25 Also available in 50 x 60 cm/ 20 x 24 inch and as combined Edition 10 in 76 x 101 cm / 30 x 40 inch 101 x 127 cm / 40 x 50 inch Portrait of British-American sta...
Category

1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Diana Ross, Contemporary, Celebrity, Photography, Portrait
Located in München, BY
Combined Edition 25 Also available in 50 x 60 cm/ 20 x 24 inch and as combined Edition 10 in 76 x 101 cm / 30 x 40 inch 101 x 127 cm / 40 x 50 inch Portrait of famous American sing...
Category

1980s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Vintage Press Print
Located in Austin, TX
Black and white promo photo of Marilyn Monroe posed for her role in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", circa 1953. -- One-of-a-kind original vintage press print from the Celebrity Vault ar...
Category

1950s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Black and White

The Beatles in Heavy Coats
Located in Austin, TX
Black and white capture of The Beatles posed in heavy coats. The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, P...
Category

1960s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Marilyn Monroe Riding Elephant Vintage Press Print
Located in Austin, TX
Awesome black and white capture of film actress Marilyn Monroe smiling while riding an elephant. -- One-of-a-kind original vintage press print from the Celebrity Vault archives. Ow...
Category

1950s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Black and White

Gena Rowlands, Contemporary, Celebrity, Photography, Portrait
Located in München, BY
Combined Edition 25 Also available in 50 x 60 cm/ 20 x 24 inch and as combined Edition 10 in 76 x 101 cm / 30 x 40 inch 101 x 127 cm / 40 x 50 inch Portrait of American actress Gena Rowlands...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Marilyn Monroe in Black Sequin Gown Vintage Press Print
Located in Austin, TX
Black and white pinup portrait of star actress Marilyn Monroe in a black sequin gown. -- One-of-a-kind original vintage press print from the Celebrity Vault archives. Own a piece of history and kick-start your collection with our one-of-a-kind pieces of your favorite celebrities. -- "The Marilyn Monroe community was shocked and stunned at the untimely passing of truly one of the greatest Monroe sculptors of all time, Kim Goodwin...
Category

1940s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Black and White

Marilyn Monroe Candid Artistic Portrait in White Dress Vintage Press Print
Located in Austin, TX
Black and white artistic and candid portrait of Marilyn Monroe in front of stores wearing a white dress. -- One-of-a-kind original vintage press print from the Celebrity Vault archi...
Category

1950s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Black and White

Radha and Max on Dirt Road (29 Palms, CA) - analog, Polaroid, Contemporary
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Radha and Max on Dirt Road (29 Palms, CA) - 1999 Edition 8/10. 60x67cm including white frame. Analog C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Signature label and Certificate. Artist inv...
Category

1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Metal

Runaway Ride (The Getaway) - The Last Picture Show - Polaroid, Contemporary
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Runaway Ride - The Getaway (The Last Picture Show) - 1999 40x40cm, Edition of 10, plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the original Polaroid. Artist Inventory #345. ...
Category

1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid

Djala - Tim Flach, Contemporary British Art, Animal Photography
Located in Brighton, GB
Please bear in mind that all prints are produced to order. Lead times are expected between 15-20 days. 'Djala' is a stunning C-Type print by contemporary British photographer Tim Fl...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Rock Hudson on a Motorbike
Located in Austin, TX
Star actor Rock Hudson. Hudson was one of the top leading men in film during the 50's and 60's era and achieved stardom with roles in films such as Magnificent Obsession, All That He...
Category

1960s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Robert Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, Campaigning in Indiana USA, Photography 1960s
Located in New york, NY
Robert Kennedy (RFK) and his wife Ethel Kennedy, campaigning in a small town in Indiana USA in 1968 is a color photograph, 16” x 24,” an archival pigment...
Category

1960s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment, Rag Paper

Brigitte Bardot Smiling in a Garden
Located in Austin, TX
Beautiful black and white 1950s capture of star actress Brigitte Bardot posed smiling in a garden. Born and raised in Paris, Bardot was an aspiring ballerina during her childhood. S...
Category

1950s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Omnia Vanitas No.6 by Ronald Martinez - Fine art photography, still life, skull
Located in Paris, FR
Omnia Vanitas No.6 is a limited-edition photograph by French contemporary artist Ronald Martinez. This photograph is sold unframed as a print only. It is available in one size: *60...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, C Print

Spare Parts (29 Palsm, CA) - Contemporary, Polaroid, 21st Century, Color
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
'Spare Parts' (29 Palms, CA) - 1999 Edition 3/5, 128x125 cm, Analog C-Print, based on a Polaroid, enlarged by the artist, Not mounted, Artist inventory 792.18 With Radha Mitchell and Max Sharam Living and working in Los Angeles and Berlin, Stefanie Schneider's scintillating situations take place in the American West. Situated on the verge of an elusive super-reality, her photographic sequences provide the ambience for loosely woven story lines and a cast of phantasmic characters. Schneider works with the chemical mutations of expired Polaroid film stock. Chemical explosions of color spreading across the surfaces undermine the photograph's commitment to reality and induce her characters into trance-like dreamscapes. Like flickering sequences of old road movies Schneider's images seem to evaporate before conclusions can be made - their ephemeral reality manifesting in subtle gestures and mysterious motives. Schneider's images refuse to succumb to reality, they keep alive the confusions of dream, desire, fact, and fiction. Stefanie Schneider received her MFA in Communication Design at the Folkwang Schule Essen, Germany. Her work has been shown at the Museum for Photography, Braunschweig, Museum für Kommunikation, Berlin, the Institut für Neue Medien, Frankfurt, the Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden, Kunstverein Bielefeld, Museum für Moderne Kunst Passau, Les Rencontres d'Arles, Foto -Triennale Esslingen. “It was Stefanie Schneider, who inspired me to start the company THE IMPOSSIBLE PROJECT after seeing her work, which seems to achieve the possible from the impossible, creating the finest of art out of the most basic of mediums and materials. Indeed, after that one day, I was so impressed with her photography that I realized Polaroid film could not be allowed to disappear. Being at the precise moment in time where the world was about to lose Polaroid, I seized the moment and have put all my efforts and passion into saving Polaroid film. For that, I thank Stefanie Schneider almost exclusively, who played a bigger role than anyone in saving this American symbol of photography.” –Florian Kaps, March 8th 2010 (“Doc” Dr. Florian Kaps, founder of “The Impossible Project”) Exhibitions Selected (selected) 2017 BLICKFELD] Analoge Fotografie, Kommunale Galerie Steglitz-Zehlendorf (G) (catalog), (upcoming)
 Kunstverein Bad Homburg Artlantis, Bad Homburg (G)

 2016 
Instantdreams, Instantdreams Gallery, Berlin 

(S) 2015
 Desert Voices, De Re Gallery, Los Angeles (G) with Pamela Littky 
Blue Nudes, De Re Gallery, Los Angeles (G) 

 2014

 Summer Show, Galerie Catherine et André Hug, Paris, France (G) 6 Finalists, Saatchi Gallery London (G) 
Instantdreams, De Re Gallery, Los Angeles (S)
Grand Opening, De Re Gallery, Los Angeles (G) with Banksy, Andy Warhol, Alison Bignon, Sophie Dickens, Victor Gingembre and others
 2013 
Heather's Dream, Short, nominated for the German Short Film Award 2013 (Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis)
Images For Images (Artists fir Tichy), GASK - Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region,  Kutná Hora, Czech Republic, (G) with Richard Prince, Nan Golding...
Category

1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid

"Eat My Dust"- Archival Pigment Ink Photography
Located in West Hollywood, CA
This selection is an intimate grouping of portraits of celebrities and tastemakers in the burgeoning cannabis industry. I’ve paired these with select portraits evoking the feeling of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink

''Lukah 4'' Dutch Contemporary Portrait of Boy in Chinese Costume with Lizard
Located in Utrecht, NL
Passionate, sensitive and an eye for detail, light and color, this is the working method of Dutch photographer Ursula van de Bunte (1969). She is a perfectionist, enthusiastic and di...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Plexiglass

Jayne Mansfield: Modern Pinup
Located in Austin, TX
This beautiful modern pinup features the lovely Jayne Mansfield posed on barstools with modern art on the walls. Jayne Mansfield was an American film, theater, and television actre...
Category

1950s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment

Half Angels Half Demons - Zebra #26, Black and White Photography
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Half Angels Half Demons - Zebra #26, 2008 by Mauricio Velez Black & White Photography Archival Pigment Print Image size: 29 in. H x 29 in. W Sheet size: 32.5 in. H x 32.5 in. W Edit...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Black and White

"Paul I Can Hear Myself" Photography 21" x 18" in Ed. of 25 by Howard Grafton
Located in Culver City, CA
"Paul I Can Hear Myself" Photography 21" x 18" in Ed. of 25 by Howard Grafton Signed and numbered on the back by the publisher The Beatles on the Ed ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Metal

Rita Hayworth Sunbathing
Located in Austin, TX
Black and white candid image of Rita Hayworth in Burbank, walking along a beautiful street scene. This listing is for a limited edition archival print. What's included: - Limited ...
Category

1930s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment

New York City, Harlem, Photograph of African American Life 1950s
Located in New york, NY
Harlem, 1954 by Leonard Freed, is a 14” x 11” photograph from the photographer's Black in White America book (p. 91). The gelatin silver print from the estate is stamped verso (back ...
Category

1950s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Exercise at Home
Located in New York, NY
Digital C-print Stamped and numbered, verso 20 x 24 inches (Edition of 10) 30 x 40 inches (Edition of 5 + 1 AP) 50 x 60 inches (Edition of 3) This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Please note that prices increase as editions sell. Luke Smalley was an American artist known for his photographic work, which pairs a coolly minimalist aesthetic with a retro nostalgia. Images from his early in his career were inspired by fitness manuals and yearbooks c. 1910. This is not surprising since Smalley graduated with a degree in sports medicine from Pepperdine University and worked for a number of years as a model and personal trainer. Smalley shot the bulk of his photographs in his home state of Pennsylvania, using real high school athletes as models. “Exercise at Home” is Luke Smalley’s second major body of work. Shot in and around the tiny Pennsylvania town the artist called home, Smalley revisits themes of adolescent growing pains acted out under the guise of earnest athleticism. Teenagers engage in simple yet strange competitions meant to establish their standings amongst one another. Two youths practice boating safety...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Divine Nude No.21 by Ronald Martinez - Fine art photography, Renaissance, woman
Located in Paris, FR
Divine Nude No.21 is a limited-edition photograph by French contemporary artist Ronald Martinez. This photograph is sold unframed as a print only. It...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, C Print

Ryder Mounting Up
Located in New York, NY
Toned gelatin silver print Signed, titled, dated, and numbered, recto 14 x 11 inches, sheet (Edition of 25) 20 x 16 inches, sheet (Edition of 25) 24 x 20 inches, sheet (Edition of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Jane Fonda Laughing in Fur Hat
Located in Austin, TX
Black and white candid capture of actress Jane Fonda posed in a fur hat, circa 1972. Jane Fonda is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda's work spans se...
Category

1970s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Heart and Soul - Contemporary, Polaroid, Nude, Color, Women, 21st Century
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
'Heart and Soul' (Bombay Beach) - 2019 20x20cm, Edition of 7 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print based on a Polaroid. Signature label with certificate. Artist inventory PL201...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid

Into the Sky 5, Andy Lo Pò - Summer, Skyscapes, Portrait Photography
Located in Brighton, GB
The 19th July 2022 was the UK's hottest recorded day. When most were abandoning work for nearby cool spots or sun-drenched parks, Brighton-based photographer Andy Lo Pò...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Grace Kelly in Knit Sweater
Located in Austin, TX
Color capture of Grace Kelly outdoors, posed in a knit sweater, circa 1962. Grace Kelly was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their m...
Category

1960s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Debbie Harry Blondie 1977
Located in Austin, TX
Debbie Harry of Blondie - London 1977 limited edition print by Brian Duffy. Debbie Harry of “Blondie” wearing a Patti Smith Group T-shirt shot...
Category

Late 20th Century Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Marilyn Monroe Full Body Pinup Vintage Press Print
Located in Austin, TX
Black and white promo photo of Marilyn Monroe posed in a bathing suit for a full-length full-body pinup portrait. -- One-of-a-kind original vintage press print from the Celebrity Va...
Category

1950s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Black and White

Batman and Batgirl Classical Portrait
Located in Austin, TX
Classic black and white promotional still of Adam West for his role as Batman, and Yvonne Joyce Craig for her role as Batgirl, circa 1967. Batman is an American live-action televisi...
Category

1960s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Wild Horse with Mane Blowing in the Wind, Fashion, Minimal, Best-Seller
Located in US
"Breathless" The wind sweeping the beautifully unkempt mane of this wild horse on Sable Island is a reminder of nature's perfection. The print series Discovering the Horses of Sab...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Brainpower II, III and I. Triptych. From The Horses Series
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Brainpower I, Untitled I, and Untitled II (Triptych) 2018 by Juan Lamarca From the Horse Series Fine Art Cotton Paper Overall size: Image size: 16.5 in H x 36 in W Frame size: 17.7 ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Black and White, Archival Pigment

Portrait Photography for Sale on 1stDibs

Portrait photography can be a powerful part of your wall decor. Find a provocative and compelling portrait that speaks to you and you might find that the photograph will speak to your guests too.

Prior to the development of photography, which eventually replaced portrait paintings as a quicker and more efficient way of capturing a person’s essence, the subject of a portrait had to sit for hours until the painter had finished. In 1839, chemist and Philadelphia-based photographer Robert Cornelius didn’t have to wait very long for his portrait. In a matter of minutes, he captured what many believe to be the first portrait photograph. This shot was also the first self-portrait (or what we now call a “selfie”), and fine photography quickly became an art form.

Landscape photography, nude photography and portrait photography are very popular in today's modern interiors. A portrait can reveal a lot about the person in it. It can also add a narrative touch to your decor. You’ll often find that photographs of loved ones work well as decorative touches. A portrait of a family member or dear friend can help turn a house into a home, warming any space by evoking fond memories.

While family portraits can stir emotion, portraits of celebrities and important historical figures can also add a rich dynamic to your space. Portraits of famous musicians or intriguing actors hung in your dining room or home bar shot by Gered Mankowitz or Annie Leibovitz might inspire deep conversation over meals or drinks. Douglas Kirkland is also famous for his celebrity portraits. His photojournalism made him much sought after by Hollywood studios to document the filming of movies. In Kirkland’s powerful depiction of Hollywood stars, he excellently captures the glamour of their lives.

Other artists like Elliott Erwitt stand out by turning portraiture into a playful art form. Before graduating from high school in Hollywood, Erwitt had already begun to teach himself to take pictures, inspired by the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson. In image after image, Erwitt captured what photographers call “the moment” with rapier wit and penetrating humanity.

Portrait photography can be incredibly expressive, setting the tone and mood for a room. And there are different ways of incorporating portrait photography into your interior decor. If you’re thinking about adding color photography to a bedroom or living room, the colors of the portraits can become part of the room’s palette, while portraits shot in black and white won’t disrupt an existing color scheme.

On 1stDibs, find a vast selection of portrait photography from different eras, including 1950s portraits, 1960s portrait photography and more.

Recently Viewed

View All