For photography students and applicants
Photographs deserve large, fast, color-faithful presentation, and a sequence that's been thought through.
What a photography portfolio has to do
In a photography portfolio, the edit is part of the work. Which images you include, which you leave out, and the order they appear in say as much as any single frame. Reviewers look for a way of seeing that holds across a series, not just one striking picture.
Technically, photographs are the heaviest thing on most websites. Handled badly, they load slowly, shift in color, or get cropped by the layout. A photography site has to get image delivery right.
01What your site can hold
Built around your photography work.
Series and projects
Each with a short statement and a considered sequence.
A lead image per series
One frame that works as the way in.
Full-screen viewing
Large images with keyboard and swipe navigation.
Captions
Title, place, and year, plus context where it matters, especially for documentary work.
Contact sheets or edit notes
If you want to show how you selected.
Exhibitions and publications
Shows, zines, features, and awards.
02 · Why custom design matters
How we present photography work
A template decides the layout before it has seen your work. We design the other way round.
- No forced crops
- Layouts that respect each photograph's original aspect ratio.
- Fast on mobile data
- Responsive image sizes and modern formats, checked against your originals for color and sharpness.
- A background for your work
- Dark for some bodies of work, light for others. It's chosen, not defaulted.
- Private series
- Sensitive or unpublished work can sit behind a password.
03 · Before we start
What to prepare
- Full-resolution exports in sRGB (the web standard color space)
- Images grouped into the series you want to show
- Titles and captions, and a few lines about each series
- Consent from people who are clearly identifiable, especially minors
- A list of exhibitions, publications, or awards
Always follow each program's own submission requirements first. Your website complements them.
04 · How it works
Five steps, each approved by you
- Portfolio review
- Direction and structure
- Design
- Build and revisions
- Launch
Examples
All portfolio examples
Questions about photography portfolios
It depends on the program, so check its requirements first. On a website, a few tight series usually work better than one large mixed gallery. We'll help you edit.
They'll be resized and optimized for the web, carefully. Each screen gets an appropriately sized file, and we compare the results against your originals.
Portlio builds personal portfolio websites, not online shops. We can add a clear way for people to ask about prints.