Manasi Kashyap

An effective homepage for your photography website showcases your images and captures the attention of potential buyers and clients. Surveys, conversations, and experience on both sides of the client/photographer table tells us that buyers want to see your work, not necessarily your web design, and smart photographers respond with clean, focused and image-centric displays.

Display options can reasonably be broken down into three over-arching categories: slideshow, static image, and multiple image display (what we fondly call the Photo Wall). The one, or combination that you choose will largely depend on personal
aesthetic, photographic style, your target customer, and the design limitations of
your
current site.

We recently asked our Facebook community to chime in and let us know
which of these three they were currently using on their homepage. Here’s what they told us in this informal poll:

53% are using a Photo Wall display
28% are using a slideshow
17% are using a static image

2% are using something else

A Photo Wall display is a win for several reasons: it allows visitors to immediately get a sense of the scope and breadth of your work, highlighting your ability to work in different genres and subject matter; it communicates your unique photographic style, visual point of view, and ability to execute a signature shooting technique well; it allows potential buyers to browse more images directly from your homepage; and buyers can also click through directly to the full image gallery without having to navigate to another page and choose from a separate gallery menu.

Frazer Waller

The design options within a Photo Wall display are limited only by your imagination, and the images you have to work with. It can go with a checkerboard look, or more of an irregular Modrian feel. Some photographers like to add spacing between images, while others like a seamless layout. There are rounded edges, constrained heights, and hover display options that let you add keyword rich captions. You get the idea: it’s really up to you to decide what your Photo Wall looks like.

Jerry and Marcy Monkman

We’ve rounded up a few examples of Photo Walls that are breaking the mold from around the PhotoShelter community that should give you some design inspiration if you decide to go for a modular image display. *All of these examples are built from PhotoShelter themes, with no additional coding or design work needed to achieve these different looks. Here’s a quick video about setting up your own Photo Wall. 

The Picture Kitchen

Mike Carlson for St Leo Athletics

Tracey Tomtene Photography

Mark Blundell Photography

Jungle Frog Images

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