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Contemporary Portrait Photography

CONTEMPORARY STYLE

Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.

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Size: Large
Style: Contemporary
Gerry Cranham 'Sundial Hat' Limited Edition Photograph 30x40
Located in San Rafael, CA
British dancer Rosemary Andree wearing a sunhat with a clock face design on a summer's day at the Roehampton Pool. (Photo by Gerry Cranham/Getty Images) As an authorized Getty Image...
Category

1950s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin, Photographic Paper

Ida
Located in Munich, DE
Limited Edition 25 More sizes on request The photographic work of the internationally well-known Austrian photographer Andreas H. Bitesnich is captivating by its beauty and aestheti...
Category

1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Reinhold Messner
Located in Munich, DE
Limited Edition 10 More sizes on request The photographic work of the internationally well-known Austrian photographer Andreas H. Bitesnich is captivating by its beauty and aestheti...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Anthony Quinn
Located in Munich, DE
Limited Edition 10 More sizes on request The photographic work of the internationally well-known Austrian photographer Andreas H. Bitesnich is captivating by its beauty and aestheti...
Category

1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Philip Glass
Located in Munich, DE
Limited Edition 10 More sizes on request The photographic work of the internationally well-known Austrian photographer Andreas H. Bitesnich is captivating by its beauty and aestheti...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

In The Russian East #011, Contemporary Portrait Photography, Photojournalism
Located in Milano, IT
An original print by Italian documentary photographer Davide Monteleone. The work is a Giclee Print on Fine Art Baryta 325g from "In The Russian East...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Digital, Photographic Paper

David Bowie : The Protector in monochrome 33" x 40" print by Markus Klinko
Located in Austin, US
New release in July 2022. The Protector in black and white. Museum quality fine art print of David Bowie by photographer Markus Klinko, from his celebrated collection "Bowie Unseen",...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

David Bowie : Natural Villains monochrome 33" x 40" print by Markus Klinko
Located in Austin, US
New release July 2022. Museum quality fine art print of David Bowie by photographer Markus Klinko, from his celebrated collection "Bowie Unseen", released for the first time in 2016....
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Lakuru by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2009
Located in Coltishall, GB
Rendille warrior from Northern Kenya John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His subjects are lit with natural light and wear their day ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

La Vieja Guajira by James Sparshatt. 36 x 36” photo printed direct on aluminium
Located in Coltishall, GB
The old country girl from the Escambray mountains. I was hiking in the mountains, close to Trinidad, when I met the family. They invited me in and we chatted about our different live...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Metal

Hombre De Media Luna by James Sparshatt. 20 x 20” portrait printed on aluminium
Located in Coltishall, GB
It was almost 3am and we were still waiting for the band to start to play. I stood on the open air stage buffeted by the winds as the group and their roadies struggled to set up. Th...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Metal

“Motherland” Fine Art Photography Limited Edition Print of 1/5
Located in Port Talbot, GB
Edition of 1/5 The stunning fine art portraits by fine art photographer Laurentina Miksys have been described as opulent, timeless, and emotionally expressive. When they have a sou...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Rag Paper, Black and White

"Chanel Lady" Photography 40" x 30" inch Edition of 15 by Viktorija Pashuta
Located in Culver City, CA
"Chanel Lady" Photography 40" x 30" inch Edition of 15 by Viktorija Pashuta 2018 HD Acrylic Print The photograph is first mounted on the metallic print to the 1/4" clear acrylic sheet, it is then finished with a 1/8" Black Sintra mounted to the back. The clear acrylic magnifies the beauty of the image printed onto the metallic paper which has a luminous appearance. Latvian born Viktorija Pashuta is internationally published and award winning fashion and art photographer gaining momentum and notoriety in Southern California. With visual cues rooted in dance and music, and fashion passion stemming from her European upbringing, her images are sensual, sultry, yet powerful. Viktorija’s work is known for so called ‘color therapy’ – where she uses saturated and vibrant colors to achieve the effect of fashion surrealism. Her images are very feminine and empowering at the same time to celebrate the essence of a woman. Her work has been published in such magazines as RUNWAY (USA), GQ, Esquire, VISION (China), Prestige International (France), Essence (USA), Estetica (USA), Nylon Guys, Vogue (Italia), Tchad (Canada), Fashizblack (France), Highlights (UK), CULTURE (Australia), shooting celebrity covers for Healthy Living Magazine, Runway, Orlando Style, Justine and more. Her celebrity work includes Paris Hilton, Kathy Griffin...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Digital Pigment, Plexiglass

El Finquero by James Sparshatt. 36 x 36” photograph printed direct on aluminium.
Located in Coltishall, GB
A tobacco farmer from the Viñales valley. The Spirit of the Revolution series documents the generation of Cubans that saw the dramatic changes of 1959 as young adults. They have a s...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Metal

La Romera by James Sparshatt. 36 x 36” photograph printed direct on aluminium
Located in Coltishall, GB
On a musical and pleasure seeking pilgrimage… during Las Romerias de Mayo festival in Holguín. The Spirit of the Revolution series documents the generation of Cubans that saw the dr...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Metal

Graciela by James Sparshatt. 36 x 36” photograph printed direct on aluminium
Located in Coltishall, GB
Graciela was for many years an institution in Old Havana. Always dressed beautifully, a cigar clamped between her teeth, a grin at the ready. A witness to the Cuban revolution and 50...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Metal

Mynga by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2012
Located in Coltishall, GB
For the Mumuhuila hair indicates social status. Hairstyles, like necklaces, change throughout a lady’s adolescent and adult life. For an adult like Mynga, the number of dreadlock str...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Himba Child l by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount
Located in Coltishall, GB
In the far north of Namibia as you head towards the border with Angola at Epupa Falls, barely visible tracks radiate off the main dirt road into bush and disappear across sandy, dry ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Kedenye by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2019
Located in Coltishall, GB
Elder with a tale to tell John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets! The suffuse light allows him to capture a remarka...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Ikulme by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2011
Located in Coltishall, GB
This elder from a Rendille community in northern Kenya wears a typical bright coloured fabric wrapped around his body. It is essentially the same as the blanket-like ‘shuka’ worn by ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Loicherua by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2011
Located in Coltishall, GB
This warrior, like many of the Samburu, cares intensely about his appearance. There are two giveaway signs beyond the amount of jewellery he wears: a small pink pocket mirror, next t...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Himba Lady by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2010
Located in Coltishall, GB
Himba lady from northern Namibia John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His images are all taken with natural light and his subjects in...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Sonny and Cher, Beverly Hills, CA, 1966
Located in New York, NY
Estate Stamped Please allow four weeks extra production time. Other sizes available.
Category

20th Century Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Himba Siblings by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount
Located in Coltishall, GB
Himba Siblings in Namibia John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His images are all taken with natural light and his subjects in their ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Rendille Moran at Nyiru by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait with Acrylic Mount
Located in Coltishall, GB
I met this stunning Rendille moran (warrior) in the shade of trees near the base of Mount Nyiru. Spring waters, flowing from the huge mountain plateau above, ensure year-round greenery in this area of great aridity. The morans of both the Rendille and the Samburu wear beautifully ornate necklaces. Each design is specific to warriors within a clan and to a time in history (the ‘age-set’ that a young man enters after circumcision). The necklace thus identities his group and places him in the chronology of his tribe. A tribal elder can look at a warrior’s necklace...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

“Motherland” Fine Art Photography Limited Edition Print of 1/5
Located in Port Talbot, GB
Edition of 1/5 The stunning fine art portraits by fine art photographer Laurentina Miksys have been described as opulent, timeless, and emotionally expressive. When they have a sou...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Black and White, Rag Paper

Himba Child ll by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount
Located in Coltishall, GB
A young Himba child from Namibia John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His images are all taken with natural light and his subjects in...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

El Caballero by James Sparshatt. 36" x 36" Photo printed direct on Aluminium
Located in Coltishall, GB
The gentleman… a man of calm dignity and endessly kind eyes in Old Havana in 2016. The Spirit of the Revolution series documents the generation of Cubans that saw the dramatic chan...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Metal

Scent of Broq-Pa (Ed. 5/5)
Located in Dallas, TX
Artist statement Scent of Broqpa Broqpa is the name of a small village in Nepal. Ziesook first learned of it from a TV documentary, The Last Empire. Ziesook was moved by what she le...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Canvas, Digital

Himba Woman by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount
Located in Coltishall, GB
Himba woman from Northern Namibia John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His images are all taken with natural light and his subjects i...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Lady of the Arbore by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait with Acrylic Face-Mount
Located in Coltishall, GB
The jewellery of the Arbore is among the most colourful in the whole of the Omo Valley: they are experts in recycling materials for beauty, particularly metal watch-straps. John Ken...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Amuria by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2019
Located in Coltishall, GB
A portrait of a beautiful young Turkana woman photographed on the banks of Lake Turkana. John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

The Fairground by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount
Located in Coltishall, GB
A Turkana elder photographed by John Kenny in Kenya. John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets! The suffuse light allo...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Nakini by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2019
Located in Coltishall, GB
A young Turkana girl John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets! The suffuse light allows him to capture a remarkable l...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Lopayok by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2019
Located in Coltishall, GB
A young Turkana warrior John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets! The suffuse light allows him to capture a remarkabl...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Ayoni and child by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount
Located in Coltishall, GB
Ayoni and her child – a smiling Turkana mother. John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets! The suffuse light allows h...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Gumatoo by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2019
Located in Coltishall, GB
John Kenny met this Gabbra woman on the road to Kolal in Northern Kenya in 2019. John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired white sh...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Kolode by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2011
Located in Coltishall, GB
A Rendille girl in Kenya A return to Kenya. On this trip John took a different approach to lighting. Building makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets held up by four ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Lesirte by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2011
Located in Coltishall, GB
A Samburu warrior from Kenya A return to Kenya. On this trip John took a different approach to lighting. Building makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets held up by f...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Eture by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2011
Located in Coltishall, GB
A young Rendille girl A return to Kenya. On this trip John took a different approach to lighting. Building makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets held up by four war...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Pitali by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2011
Located in Coltishall, GB
Sometimes a more practical hair arrangement is needed for warriors and braids are rolled into a net that is tied to keep the hair firm. Once the hair is long, a warrior will only sha...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Naiio by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2011
Located in Coltishall, GB
This young Turkana girl in northern Kenya wears a goatskin known as an ‘egolas’. In traditional Turkana communities the inhabitants are excellent at making garments from animals, and...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Loile by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2011
Located in Coltishall, GB
The large circular earplugs worn by this stunning Rendille warrior are made of plastic and sometimes bone. In past times, and very occasionally today, you might see the same plugs ma...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Karepo Nawa by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2010
Located in Coltishall, GB
I met this young Himba girl near to a place called Etengwa in the far north of Namibia. We trekked a few kilometres in the midday heat, over a rocky hill to a small village within wh...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Lokope by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2011
Located in Coltishall, GB
A girl of the Samburu A return to Kenya. On this trip John took a different approach to lighting. Building makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets held up by four war...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Ekerun by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2019
Located in Coltishall, GB
A Turkana elder in Northern Kenya John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets! The suffuse light allows him to capture a...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Inchoy by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2019
Located in Coltishall, GB
The steady gaze of Inchoy and her child. John uses simple natural light and builds primitive makeshift studios from locally acquired white sheets! The suffuse light allows him to ca...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

“Motherland” Fine Art Photography Limited Edition Print of 1/5
Located in Port Talbot, GB
Edition of 1/5 The stunning fine art portraits by fine art photographer Laurentina Miksys have been described as opulent, timeless, and emotionally expressive. When they have a sou...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

Black and White, Rag Paper

Fula Nomad at Golondi by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait with Acrylic Face-Mount
Located in Coltishall, GB
The man was sat in the shade during a huge village market in a place called Golondi in Niger. We drank the salty, sweet tea that the nomads of the Sahel and...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Assaita by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2008
Located in Coltishall, GB
A young man of the Afar culture in the town of Assaita. Many men spend the afternoons in loud debate in mud buildings and courtyards. Often with fistfuls of miraa leaves (ghat) and...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Fire of the Himba by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait with Acrylic Face-Mount
Located in Coltishall, GB
Himba women have a devotion to red ochre powder and butter fat that exceeds even the Hamer of the Omo valley in Ethiopia. They apply huge amounts to almost their entire bodies inclu...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Lion of the Kalahari by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait with Acrylic Face-Mount
Located in Coltishall, GB
This Himba elder was at a huge funeral gathering in the western Kaokoland between the largest town of the area, Opuwo, and Otjitando. The area was flat, and very dry, with a strong w...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Malasso by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2009
Located in Coltishall, GB
I came across the intense stare of this Pokot lady at a Friday market on a mountain summit in northern Kenya; it was the same market where I photographed a Samburu goat herder wrappe...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

At the Edge of the Jade by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait with Acrylic Mount
Located in Coltishall, GB
Lake Turkana, or the ‘Jade Sea’ is a vast body of water in Kenya’s far north. It is surrounded by a barren landscape of red and black volcanic rocks, where rain falls for little more...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Mukuru by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount
Located in Coltishall, GB
The small settlement of Otjitando in Namibia’s Kaokoland doesn’t seem far off the main gravel road on the map. In reality it is a hellish journey that requires regular running in fro...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Otjitando by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2010
Located in Coltishall, GB
Himba woman from Namibia John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His images are all taken with natural light and his subjects in their d...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Nambuele by John Kenny. 26.5 x 18" portrait photo with Acrylic Face-Mount 2012
Located in Coltishall, GB
Nambuele illustrates the hair craft of the Mumuhuila of southern Angola, whose women take an obsessive pride in their hairstyle. Although it may change as a girl enters different st...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

At the Heart of Huile by John Kenny. 36 x 24" portrait photo with Acrylic Mount
Located in Coltishall, GB
Young Mumuhuile woman from the Huile region of southern Angola. John Kenny’s work is all shot on location in some of the remotest corners of Africa. His images are all taken with na...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Contemporary portrait photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Contemporary portrait photography available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add portrait photography created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, orange, purple, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Stefanie Schneider, Tyler Shields, Urizen Freaza, and Clare Marie Bailey. Frequently made by artists working with Paper, and Photographic Paper and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Contemporary portrait photography, so small editions measuring 1.58 inches across are also available.

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