Non-fungible token (NFT) is clearly people’s favorite acronym these days. The increasing popularity and soaring value of these blockchain-based wonders, has baffled people all across the globe. After all, they’re nothing more than glamorized JPEGs. But, when you look beyond the surface, you can see the real picture of how NFTs are transforming the world and building the virtual economy from scratch.
Having realized this potential, artists and creators were the first to jump on the NFT frenzy, creating unique artworks and making a fair share of profits. This caused NFT sales to top $10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021 and the trend shows no signs of dying down anytime soon. Even other industries like fashion, real estate, and healthcare are experimenting with NFTs now. But, an industry where NFTs could bring about the next-big revolution is photography.
If you know anything about NFTs you’d know that they can be underpinned by practically anything. Memes, tweets, music, audio, video, and of course photographs. But, while digital art and memes are thriving in the NFT space, photographs are still on the back burner. They’re among the least explored NFT types. Ironically though, photographs are an art form that we most interact with on a daily basis. From the adorable photos of animals to the paparazzi clicks of your favorite celebrity photographs are lauded by everyone. And this is precisely why NFTs present an excellent opportunity for photographers.
By converting their best photographs to NFTs on-chain, photographers can claim a significant share of the NFT profit pie. Why? Because people love to collect and photography NFTs give them a chance to uniquely own something. For instance, fans of celebrities would love to own the exclusive paparazzi clicks and photographers who spend days trying to get these clicks now, have an opportunity to make a buck out of it. The same goes for wildlife photographers, food photographers, and astrophotographers. Enthusiasts would be willing to shell out money to exclusively own these photos.
Bryan Minear, a landscape photographer, has already explored this opportunity. He dropped a collection of five photographs ranging from $200 to $2500 and managed to sell it out in 10 minutes. If this was not enough, photographer Justin Aversano created an NFT collection of 100 photographs called Twin Flames. These photos were sold and resold on NFT markets several times with the floor price for each photograph being 90ETH.
Even photography-inspired NFT metaverses are in the works. Shabangrs is one such project. This project is expected to have a collection of 2500 photography-inspired NFTs, each of which is an entry ticket to the Shabangrsville metaverse. This project has also been warmly received by the NFT industry.
So, the market for photography NFTs is definitely there and it has huge potential. By converting their photographs to NFTs, photographers would be able to create rarity for these pieces and thereby catapult their value. This presents a new way for photographers to attain financial freedom through the art they’ve always loved.
With the NFT craze picking up speed every day, NFTs are poised to become more valuable in the years to come. In this regard, they present a huge opportunity for photographers to capture a share of this ever-growing market. Photography NFTs have the unique quality of universal appeal that even popular art-based NFTs lack. This quality enables them to cater to the varying interests of people across different spectra. In doing so, they could soon enter the center stage of NFT operations, transforming the lives of both photographers and photography lovers.