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Realist Portrait Photography

REALIST STYLE

Realist art attempts to portray its subject matter without artifice. Similar to naturalism, authentic realist paintings and prints see an integration of true-to-life colors, meticulous detail and linear perspectives for accurate portrayals of the world. 

Work that involves illusionistic techniques of realism dates back to the classical world, such as the deceptive trompe l’oeil used since ancient Greece. Art like this became especially popular in the 17th century when Dutch artists like Evert Collier painted objects that appeared real enough to touch. Realism as an artistic movement, however, usually refers to 19th-century French realist artists such as Honoré Daumier exploring social and political issues in biting lithographic prints, while the likes of Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet painting people — particularly the working class — with all their imperfections, navigating everyday urban life. This was a response to the dominant academic art tradition that favored grand paintings of myth and history. 

By the turn of the 20th century, European artists, such as the Pre-Raphaelites, were experimenting with nearly photographic realism in their work, as seen in the attention to every botanical attribute of the flowers surrounding the drowned Ophelia painted by English artist John Everett Millais.

Although abstraction was the guiding style of 20th-century art, the realism trend in American modern art endured in Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth and other artists’ depictions of the complexities of the human experience. In the late 1960s, Photorealism emerged with artists like Chuck Close and Richard Estes giving their paintings the precision of a frame of film.

Contemporary artists such as Jordan Casteel, LaToya Ruby Frazier and Aliza Nisenbaum are now using the unvarnished realist approach for honest representations of people and their worlds. Alongside traditional mediums, technology such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and immersive installations are helping artists create new sensations of realism in art.

​​Find authentic realist paintings, sculptures, prints and more art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Realist
Hotel Punta Tragara, Italy, Estate Edition Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the Hotel Punta Tragara on Capri, Italy. This is an estate stamped and...
Category

1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Count and Countess Jaime De Mora y Aragon, Marbella, Estate Edition Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1980 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Count and Countess (nee Margit Ohlson) Jaime de Mora y Aragon with their dogs at their farm near...
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1980s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Pebble Beach Hunt, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Riders gather in the courtyard of Richard Collins' House for the stirrup cup libation, before the start of the Pebble Beach Hunt of English and American foxhounds, November 1976. The...
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1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Sunbathing in Arizona, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A woman sunbathing nude by Tom Darlington's pool in Carefree, Arizona, April 1967. Over the course of a career lasting half a century, Slim Aarons (1916-2006) portrayed high society, aristocracy, authors, artists, business icons, the celebrated and their milieu. In doing so, he captured a golden age of wealth, privilege, beauty and leisure, a history of glamour that occurred alongside—but quite separate from—the cultural and political backdrop of the second half of the Twentieth Century. Increasingly known for his influence, Aarons's casually glamorous jetset aesthetic can be seen today in fashion, art, and celebrity photography. Recent articles credit his work with inspiring the casually flawless style of top Instagram influencers, full of sunshine and escapism. Reference: "Dive in: how Slim Aarons art directed the poolside summer. French brand Maje are the latest label to take inspiration from Slim Aarons’ pictures of the jetset on holiday." Slim Aarons Sunbathing in Arizona...
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1960s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons Mr Mrs Donald Leas with Rolls Royce, Flagler Museum, Palm Beach
Located in Los Angeles, CA
April 1968: Mr and Mrs Donald Leas with their Rolls Royce and two pet dogs outside The Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Florida. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide...
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1960s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

No Surrender, Belfast, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features children playing 'Ring a Ring o' Roses' on a street marked with graffiti reading 'No Surr...
Category

1960s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Beverly Hills Party, Los Angeles, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1954 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American actors Lauren Bacall and Judy Garland attending a house party in Beverly Hills. This i...
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1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

The Hotel Excelsior, Rome, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a woman holding her skis in North Conway, New Hampshire. This is an estate stamped and han...
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1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Esther Williams, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American swimmer and actress Esther Williams (1921 - 2013) lounging on a trampoline. This ...
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1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

September Affair, Rome, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1940s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a crowd gathering to watch the actors Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotten on the set of Willia...
Category

1940s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

North Conway, New Hampshire, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a woman holding her skis in North Conway, New Hampshire. This is an estate stamped and han...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

A Roman Prince, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1982: Prince Raimondo Orsini d'Aragona stands in the ancient Roman forum wearing an elegant suit by tailor Savini-Brioni. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authentic...
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1980s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Marguerite Pindling, Bahama, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Dame Marguerite Pindling, Lady Pindling with her children Obafemi, Leslie, Monique and Michelle, Bahamas, 1971. Margurite's husband, Lynden Pindling, is the Prime Minister of the Bah...
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1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Sunbathing In Venice, Italy, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a woman sunbatheing, wearing a novelty straw sun hat with built-in sunglasses, Venice. Th...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Penthouse Pool, Estate Edition, framed
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Young women by the Canellopoulos penthouse pool, Athens, July 1961. Framed in white. Slim Aarons Penthouse Pool Chromogenic Lambda print Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate Edition Com...
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21st Century and Contemporary Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, San Diego, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, La Jolla, San Diego. This is an estate stamp...
Category

1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Tropical Mustique, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
February 1989: Pierre Vincent Marais holidays with friends on the island of Mustique in the Grenadines. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Aut...
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1980s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Peggy Guggenheim
Located in Los Angeles, CA
September 1978: Peggy Guggenheim (1898 - 1979) in the Palazzo Venier Dei Leoni, Venice. The palace houses her private art collection, including Picasso's 'On the Beach', pictured to ...
Category

1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Carmen Sevilla, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Spanish actress and singer Carmen Sevilla. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons Carmen Sevilla Chromogenic Lambda print 1957, Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate Edition Com...
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1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Fan Mail, Beverly Hills, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962), wearing a red negligee trimmed with black lace, sorts out h...
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1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Fan Mail, Beverly Hills, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962), wearing a red negligee trimmed with black lace, sorts out h...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Skiing In Stowe, Vermont, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a young woman waiting to go on a ski run in Stowe, Vermont, USA. This is an estate stamp...
Category

1960s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Pebble Beach Hunt, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Riders gather in the courtyard of Richard Collins' House for the stirrup cup libation, before the start of the Pebble Beach Hunt of English and American foxhounds, November 1976. The...
Category

1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Joan Collins Relaxes, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Film star Joan Collins relaxes with her pink poodle on her pink bed. Slim Aarons Joan Collins Relaxes, Estate Edition Chromogenic Lambda print 1955, Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Joan Collins Relaxes, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Film star Joan Collins relaxes with her pink poodle on her pink bed. Slim Aarons Joan Collins Relaxes, Estate Edition Chromogenic Lambda print 1955, Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Pebble Beach Hunt, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Riders gather in the courtyard of Richard Collins' House for the stirrup cup libation, before the start of the Pebble Beach Hunt of English and American foxhounds, November 1976. The...
Category

1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Harbour Island
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Harbour Island in the Bahamas, 1970. 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 20 x 24 inches $2500 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide....
Category

1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Pink Accessory, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1955: Film star Joan Collins in a pink and white bedroom with an accessory pink poodle. Slim Aarons Pink Accessory, Estate Edition Chromogenic Lambda print 1955, Printed Later...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Lido Life, Venice, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of friends squeeze onto an inflatable raft at the Venice Lido, Venice, Italy. This...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Iconic Estate Edition, Pop and Society, Mick Jagger Marianne Faithfull
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons Pop and Society (Marianne Faithfull, the Honorable Desmond Guinness and Mick Jagger) Chromogenic lambda print 4 sizes available Slim Aarons Estate Edition 1968: From lef...
Category

1960s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Naumburg Bandshell, New York City, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1940s urban photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features couples dance to a live band performing at the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, New York Cit...
Category

1940s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Crowded Kitzbühel, Austria, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1980 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features skiers making their way between the slopes in Kitzbühel, Austria. This is an estate stamped and...
Category

1980s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Cannes Cannes Girls, France, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features two bikini-clad holidaymakers posing outside the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, in the south of ...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Cannes Cannes Girls, France, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features two bikini-clad holidaymakers posing outside the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, in the south of ...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Alice Wesselhoeft Saltonstall, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Alice Wesselhoeft Saltonstall, wife of senator Leverett Saltonstall in Palm Beach, USA. T...
Category

1960s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Alice Wesselhoeft Saltonstall, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Alice Wesselhoeft Saltonstall, wife of senator Leverett Saltonstall in Palm Beach, USA. T...
Category

1960s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Donna Fabrizia Lanza Di Mazzarino, Sicily, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1980s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Donna Fabrizia Lanza di Mazzarino at the Villa Tasca, Sicily, Italy. This is an estate sta...
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1980s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

The Marlboroughs, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1957: John Albert Edward Spencer Churchill, the 10th Duke of Marlborough (1897 - 1972) and his wife Mary relax on a bench in the grounds of Blenheim Palace, the family seat in Oxford...
Category

1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Beverly Hills Party, Los Angeles, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1954 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American actors Lauren Bacall and Judy Garland attending a house party in Beverly Hills. This i...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, San Diego, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, La Jolla, San Diego. This is an estate stamp...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Marguerite Pindling, Bahama, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Dame Marguerite Pindling, Lady Pindling with her children Obafemi, Leslie, Monique and Mi...
Category

1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

No Surrender, Belfast, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features children playing 'Ring a Ring o' Roses' on a street marked with graffiti reading 'No Surr...
Category

1960s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

The Marlboroughs, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1957: John Albert Edward Spencer Churchill, the 10th Duke of Marlborough (1897 - 1972) and his wife Mary relax on a bench in the grounds of Blenheim Palace, the family seat in Oxford...
Category

1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Coffee With Dalí, Madrid, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Spanish artist Salvador Dali enjoys a cup of coffee on the terrace of the Ritz Hotel, Madri...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

The St. Regis, New York, Estate Edition, Event Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s event photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features an aerial view of diners at the St. Regis, New York. This is an estate stamped and hand numbe...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, San Diego, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, La Jolla, San Diego. This is an estate stamp...
Category

1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, San Diego, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, La Jolla, San Diego. This is an estate stamp...
Category

1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Portrait Sitting, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Diana 'Dysie' Davie, wife of T Bedford Davie, poses for the painter John Orr in her home in Wort...
Category

1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Barone Bettino Ricasoli, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Winemaker Barone Bettino Ricasoli poses holding up a wine glass beside a table, on which stands three bottles of wine and a basket of grapes, in a vineyard in Siena, Italy, 1983. The...
Category

1980s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

September Affair, Rome, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1940s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a crowd gathering to watch the actors Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotten on the set of Willia...
Category

1940s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Portrait Sitting, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Diana 'Dysie' Davie, wife of T Bedford Davie, poses for the painter John Orr in her home in Wort...
Category

1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Table Hopping
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1959: Senator Jack Kennedy (President John F Kennedy) greeting old friends at an 'April in Paris' ball held in the Waldorf's Grand Ballroom, New York. 30 x 40 inches $3350 20...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Sir Run Run Shaw, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features philanthropist and entertainment mogul Sir Run Run Shaw surrounded by the stars of Hong Ko...
Category

1970s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Gordon C. MacKenzie, New Hampshire, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the race driver Gordon C. MacKenzie in Franconia, New Hampshire. This is an estate stamped...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Parrot Jungle, Miami, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1955 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a family day out at the Parrot Jungle amusement park near Miami. This is an estate stamped and...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Gordon C. MacKenzie, New Hampshire, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the race driver Gordon C. MacKenzie in Franconia, New Hampshire. This is an estate stampe...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Rhode Island Surfer, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A surfer carrying his board at a Rhode Island beach, September 1965. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered an...
Category

1960s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Rhode Island Surfers, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Surfers off Rhode Island, September 1965. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aaron...
Category

1960s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Carmen Sevilla, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Spanish actress and singer Carmen Sevilla. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons Carmen Sevilla Chromogenic Lambda print 1957, Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate Edition Com...
Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Alice In Acapulco, Mexico, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Alice Topping and Minnie Cushing (left) relaxing with friends in Acapulco, Mexico. This is...
Category

1960s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Realist portrait photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Realist 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, purple, pink, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Slim Aarons, Bob Willoughby, Mitchell Funk, and Milton Rogovin. Frequently made by artists working with Digital Print, and Lambda Print and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Realist portrait photography, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are also available. Prices for portrait photography made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $380 and tops out at $75,000, while the average work sells for $3,000.