NFT Photography: What It Is and How to Buy it
In Web2.0 anyone could have a copy of your photos and use them as they pleased, consider social media. Your photos and images are free for anyone’s use. Then, there’s Web3, and thanks to NFT photographs, the way we think about our photos and their storage is changing.
With the advent of NFTs ownership can be thought of differently. No matter how many people may have a copy of your photo, with NFT photographs, you can keep the ownership and transferable rights.
TL;DR
- NFT photos are a tokenized version of a photo, they represent any picture you can think of
- By using blockchain technology, the authenticity of your pictures or your art is digitally stamped or certified
- NFTs open a world of possibilities for artists. They can find investors to monetize their art; they can create a more direct bond with their followers
What is NFT Photography?
Let’s suppose you visit an art gallery. The art is so inspiring you take a picture, print it, and hang it on your living room wall. Or if printing pictures isn’t your thing, there are usually purchasable copies of your favorite pieces at the exit of the art gallery. The art is now “yours,” right?
But what if someone screenshots your photos from Instagram. They can keep it and even post it on their own profile later if they feel like it. Can you prove you´re the rightful owner of these pictures? Sometimes, but not always. When ownership hits the digital world things get a bit boggy.
By using blockchain technology, the authenticity of your pictures or your art is digitally stamped or certified. So no matter how often your creative output– be it art, photos, or illustrations– gets copied, the rightful owner can be traced all the way back by means of a blockchain’s distributed ledger.
NFT photos are a tokenized version of a photo, they represent any picture you can think of. This way, artists and photographers can sell their art and investors get to collect one-of-a-kind (NFT) artwork. It’s a win/win for both the creatives and the collectors: creatives get to prove their authorship and collectors get to prove authentic ownership. Remember, all NFT transactions help improve the creative economy by making it verifiable, digitally tamper-proof, and traceable.
What about copyrights?
Copyrights, by themselves, are always pretty tricky. There are copyrights for the creative work and copyrights to the NFT, and licenses to the copyright of both, and none of them are the same. That’s because the actors within all of these may or may not be the same person. Check it out:
A photographer takes a picture, they’re the creative. But maybe the NFT creator for that picture is a friend of theirs. They create the NFT (without the copyright license from their photographer friend) and suddenly they sell that NFT for 50 ETH. Who get’s the cash? If this friend is the photographer’s most solid friend, they’ll probably hand over the money to them. But when they’re not best buddies…see the picture? (No pun intended)
Ideally, the creative (the copyright owner) is also the NFT creator,
And what about royalties?
Photographers can get future royalties on resales of their pictures so long as the NFT’s smart contract enables it (and so long as that NFT Royalty standard is supported by the platforms through which it’s purchased.)
Can any photo be an NFT?
Pretty much. Which photo to choose and how to market is up to you. If you want to create limited editions of your pictures and make prove your ownership rights to them, then the NFT world is perfect for you.
Bear in mind that as well as creating your NFTs you’re in charge of creating a community; the classical marketing approach to this is to think of your community as those who appreciate your work enough that they’d be willing to purchase it or to go the extra mile for more of your creative output.
Being part of a community is no trifling matter in the NFT world. It takes time and effort to be recognized and accepted by a community. So even if you have a stroke of luck and are instantly recognized, remember that community building in Web3 is everything.
How do I get started with NFT Photography?
First of all, you’ll need a digital wallet; it’ll allow you to access your account on several platforms. You’ll be able to deal with your trades, store your balance, and log in to different networks and platforms. It`s up to you to decide which marketplace you’d like to operate in.
Connect your wallet to the marketplace of your choice and make sure to have crypto for gas fees (which crypto depends on the blockchain that the marketplace is operating on) After that, you can create your NFT photographs by following the steps for minting described on each site. From there on, selling, auctioning, or even buying other artists’ NFTs are all features that solely depend on the platform you’re working on.
The future in art
We can consider NFTs as the future of art and collecting. Today you can show your art in a virtual gallery and it’s accessible to anyone online. This is just the beginning of what NFTs can offer us.
More and more artists are entering the NFT space, willing to expand their creativity and, if possible, achieve financial freedom through their creativity.
Regarding photography, NFTs have been one of the most critical developments in the last years, allowing sellers and buyers to interact directly. Since intermediaries, are out of the picture (again, no pun intended) creatives have the chance to manage their art and enjoy their profits on their own.
Conclusions
NFTs are changing how we conceive art. We are witnessing how NFTs are changing art and collectible markets and we hope that NFTs go beyond these industries. The physical possession of an item is becoming less and less important. Anybody can make a copy of a piece of art or screenshot a picture. Digital ownership is what matters now. But with NFTs, only one has ownership rights. And what’s more, they can be easily traced back by employing blockchain technology.
NFTs open a world of possibilities for artists. They can find investors to monetize their art; they can create a more direct bond with their followers. But more importantly, artists can continue having ownership rights. By investing in new artists, the buyer can help the creator and make profits as the NFT becomes more valuable.
About THEOS: The THEOS ecosystem is managed and sustained by our Association, a team of both traditional finance and blockchain virtuosos. We envision a new way of thinking, minting, and trading NFTs, and have developed what we believe is going to become the next-generation community-governed NFT platform.
Follow our social media channels to stay up to date with the latest news:
- Telegram Announcements — https://t.me/theos_fi_announcements
- Telegram Official Community — https://t.me/theos_fi
- Twitter — https://twitter.com/theos_fi
- Discord — https://discord.gg/aMdWsXFzBt
- Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/theos.fi/