NFT Photography Is The Next Big Thing For 2022: Here’s The Scoop

When considering all the different trends in NFTs, NFT photography stands out as an area poised for growth in 2022. This guide is going to cover some of the big NFT photographers paving the way today. We’re also going to cover where you can go to get involved right now.

Whether you’re a photographer just getting into NFTs, or you’re a collector looking for your first NFT photography artwork, you’re in the right place.

Why 2022 Will Be A Big Year For NFT Photography

Overall, many artists are embracing what NFTs have to offer. For one thing, there’s the chance to make an income from their work in new and beneficial ways. On the other hand, many artists care just as much, if not more, about the sense of community that surrounds NFTs.

On account of the medium, digital artists seemed to leap into NFTs earlier than other kinds of artists. However, artists in other mediums are starting to see how they can also benefit from NFTs.

Thus, as NFTs continue to break through the mainstream in 2022, more and more photographers will be drawn to them. After all, there are many advantages of NFTs over platforms like Instagram when it comes to gaining a following.

For this reason, we are sure to see much more NFT photographers in the new year. And more NFT photographers mean more NFT photography collections that will get big and take off.

Who Are Some Of The NFT Photographers To Watch In 2022

All things considered, the growth of avatar NFTs, blockchain games, and metaverse platforms is no accident. Indeed, we can link it directly to the success of projects like CryptoPunks and Bored Apes, Axie Infinity, Decentraland & The Sandbox.

Seeing that, it is fair to say that we could see something similar happen with NFT photography. Here are some of the big names that will likely lead more photographers to follow in their footsteps into NFTs in 2022.

Justin Aversano

Without a doubt, Justin Aversano has become the biggest NFT photographer to date. He released his “Twin Flames” set of 100 photos on Valentine’s Day, 2021. Since then, the collection has done about $17 million in total sales volume. And that’s to say nothing of its floor price of 150 ETH, which is about $570,000 at the time of writing.

And there’s more besides the success of the collection on the secondary market. To illustrate, Christie’s auctioned one of the Twin Flames NFTs earlier this year. Finally, Aversano went on to launch Quantum Art – an on-chain platform that focuses on NFT photographers and their work (more on that below).

Aversano set the pace in 2021, so he’s sure to come with a lot more amazing NFT photography in the future.

Isaac “Drift” Wright

Isaac Wright, aka @Driftershoots, has the winning combo of stunning photography and an incredible story. The former military paratrooper first got into photography as a way to help through a difficult period of his life.

That is to say, his urban exploration and dizzying climbs are as much about personal healing as they are about capturing beautiful images.

Unfortunately, Wright ended up going to prison because of his climbing activities. While it may be true that the climbs were technically illegal, this was an unjust punishment. Especially given that they are generally treated as simple misdemeanors.

Nevertheless, Wright came out of his incarceration determined and continued his inspiring work. Thankfully, the NFT community embraced him, and his series, “Where My Vans Go” became a huge success. As a matter of fact, it’s the second biggest NFT photography collection on Opensea after “Twin Flames”.

Now Drift is paying the goodwill forward by supporting up-and-coming NFT artists and photographers. Expect to see huge things not only from Drift but from the community he puts on in 2022.

Dave Krugman

Dave Krugman is another photographer who was an early adopter of NFTs. Although he’s been a photographer for over a decade, he seems to now firmly put himself in the lane of “crypto artist”, going by his Twitter bio.

His “DRIVE” collection is one of the top amongst photography NFTs on Opensea. Not to mention his prolific activity on NFT Twitter, which has gotten him over 30,000 followers.

Mario Testino

The famous fashion and portrait photographer put out his first NFT collection early on in 2021. MakersPlace released his “Four Iconic Portraits” collection in April. What’s more, 11 editions of the Testino MakersPlace portraits are currently available on Opensea.

The photographer has spoken about his interest in NFTs in the past, so he might drop more of his legendary work as NFTs in the coming year.

Foodmasku

Foodmasku is the quirky photography project of Antonius Wiriadjaja. The series became a viral (pun intended) sensation during the pandemic in 2020. It even got the New York Times stamp of approval as one of five art Instagram accounts to follow that year.

For those unfamiliar, the unique artist makes his food into elaborate face masks, photographs himself wearing them, and then eats them. He made his NFT debut this year, releasing a collection of 100 photos on the marketplace Known Origin (more on that below).

It may be a stretch to label him a “traditional” photographer, but he is certainly a known one. And his one-of-a-kind style seems like it has made him a good fit for NFTs so far.

The Best Marketplaces For Buying And Selling NFT Photography

Perhaps you’re a photographer looking to mint your first ever NFT. But you’re not sure where you’ll best be able to find your audience. Or maybe you’re a collector looking to get into NFT photography but you’re having trouble finding quality art in a sea of animal jpegs.

To that end, here is a list of marketplaces that make it easy to find and buy, or sell NFT photography.

Of course, buyers and photographers will have different concerns when it comes to what marketplace is right for them. In any case, this list will break down the pros and cons of some great marketplaces when it comes to NFT photography.

Photography-Focused NFT Platforms

Quantum Art

“Twin Flames” creator, Justin Aversano co-founded this NFT platform. Quantum Art bills itself as the first on-chain platform that is solely for NFT photography.

In addition to organizing NFTs by collection and artist, Quantum also drops curated collections of NFT photography. As a result, it’s easy to find great work on the site.

Given that Aversano is part of the team, Quantum is likely to keep attracting big photographers and collectors in the space.

Ephimera

Notably, Ephimera only sells “lens-based” work in its marketplace. In other words, it’s for photographers and video artists. This makes it a great place for buyers looking just for photography NFTs.

Another key point is that the quality of the work on the site is quite high. Thus, there is a competitive application process for creators to get on the site. This is great for buyers. Though it does means that the barrier to entry for photographers is higher than in other marketplaces.

Savage*

First and foremost, it should be noted that Savage isn’t currently out yet. Even so, it’s still worth keeping an eye on. We’ve previously written about Savage and its claims to be the first carbon-neutral NFT marketplace for photography and video. This comes as a result of it using the Ethereum layer 2 solution, Polygon.

It’s hard to say more about Savage until it launches, but if its promises of 8K resolution and carbon neutrality hold up, it may become a big player in NFT photography in 2022.

General Marketplaces That Are Good For Buying/Selling NFT Photography

Opensea

It should come as no surprise that the biggest NFT marketplace also houses some of the biggest NFT photography projects. Indeed, both Aversano’s and Wright’s flagship projects live on Opensea.

To be sure, Opensea does not cater to photography as some other NFT marketplaces do. This means NFT photographers have to contend with the masses of projects on the platform. Surely this makes it harder for an unknown artist to stand out.

With that said, it’s worth a look for NFT photographers and buyers alike. Compared to some other platforms, minting, selling, and buying is easy for anyone to do.

And it does a good job of tagging photography collections correctly, making them easy to find. For that reason, Opensea can be a great place to start.

Foundation

The biggest draw of Foundation is that it makes it easy to search through NFT photography on the site. Be that as it may, its minting fees and high royalty fee on sales (15%!) don’t make it the most creator-friendly option. Not only that, but you also need an invitation in order to put work up for sale on Foundation.

To sum up Foundation – awesome for collectors of NFT photography, not as good for NFT photographers just starting out.

Known Origin

Known Origin is another platform that focuses on high-quality art. As such it also has an application process for creators to get their art on it.

Consequently, this does lead to a great collection of photography available for buyers. By the same token, it does a good job of sorting its art so the photography NFTs are easy to find.

So a solid choice for buyers but what about photographers? Well, it poses the same dilemma as Foundation. Firstly there’s the process that creators have to get through to sell art. In addition, Known Origin has some relatively high fees. It takes a 15% commission from the first sale, and 3% on secondary sales.

The Bottom Line? Don’t Sleep On NFT Photography

In conclusion, one could easily argue that NFT photography provides one of the best use cases for the technology. It’s easy to picture how, one day, NFTs could become a main source of revenue for photographers at all levels. And with more companies emerging to serve the niche space, it is certain to expand in 2022 and beyond.