Thank you for contacting Mearto. The value of photography can vary widely. Prices are often based not only on aesthetic value, but how well-known the artist is, or how the work fits into a historical time period or art movement.

For photography that you create on your own, there are different ways to market it. A lot depends on choices like whether you want to sell the piece as a digital file or whether you choose to print it. Assuming you will print the piece, the quality of the print is important. Be sure that you have a very high resolution image. The type of paper it is printed on is important too. Look for archival quality materials. There are other options which can raise the value of a piece, like printing on metal or other materials.

Artists have different routes to making money off of their photographs. One is to sell the work as a downloadable file that can be sized as the client prefers or printed on objects besides traditional wall art. There are several sites that provide a market for this. You can watermark the image, or license it so that it can’t be copied without your permission. Financial rewards for this route are difficult to predict. You could make nothing, or you could make a few hundred dollars or more. It’s worth looking at pricing on different sites and then whether advertising on those sites is worth it for you.

Selling photography in person is much more of a challenge. Approaching galleries is part of the process. It may be easiest to try to connect with other artists and get to know galleries by frequenting them and making connections with curators. Sometimes there are open art exhibitions that invite submissions by artists, based on some theme or other criteria. You can look in your local area for these options. If you sell a photograph of this size in a gallery exhibition, the gallery usually takes a cut around 40%. The price the customer would see may be between $100 and $150.

As far as selling your own photography at auction, unless you are an established artist, you will probably have a very hard time. It’s possible that the piece will not attract any buyers, not because it’s bad or good, but because photography is not valued so much since we all have access to making our own. Being hopeful, I am giving a Fair Market Value of $10 to $15, but please bear in mind my suggestions and the difficulty of selling one’s own photography in today’s market.