What Type Of Photograph Sells?

A photograph of a news event.

Photographs of A-list celebrities, or a VIP, such as a politician or a member of the Royal family, doing something unusual.

A photograph of someone who is involved in a major news event which is being covered in newspapers and on TV news. Pictures of defendants in notorious court cases can sometimes be worth large sums, for instance.

A photograph of a bizarre or unusual happening. For instance, don’t be afraid to contact us if you have a photo of your budgerigar perched on your cat’s tail or a six legged cat. It may well be sellable.

Exclusive photographs. This really means ‘a photograph which nobody else has'.
Your picture, if it is exclusive, will invariably be worth more if nobody else was there at the time to also record the moment. For instance, if you have a picture of Tom Cruise arriving at a film premiere, there will usually be many other photographers with the same shot who are looking to sell their picture. That decreases the value of your shot.
However, if you have the only shot of Tom Cruise at the same event doing something unexpected or unusual, it could still be sellable.

The test at the end of the day is whether the picture informs, amuses, or surprises in some way. If your friends and family have laughed or been amazed when you’ve shown them the photograph, it may well be sellable.