Open a dozen photography portfolios and many of them look almost the same: a white background, a grid of square thumbnails, a name in the corner and a contact page. It is clean and it works. It also makes it hard for anyone to remember whose work they were looking at.
That sameness is getting harder to ignore. People on X have been complaining that many new websites, especially ones made quickly with AI tools, look alike, with the same cards, gradients and layouts. At the same time, there has been renewed interest in older, more personal styles of web design. For photographers and artists whose work is personal, that is an opening.
This guide looks at three portfolio formats beyond the grid, and how to choose one.
Why the grid feels generic
The thumbnail grid became standard for good reasons. It shows a lot of work at once, it is easy to build and it works on phones. But it has some costs:
- Every image is cropped to the same shape, which can damage compositions
- Every piece is given the same weight, so nothing stands out
- There is no sense of order or sequence, which matters for series and projects
- It looks much like every other portfolio
None of that is a problem if your work is commercial and your clients just want to see range quickly. For artists, film photographers and anyone whose work depends on sequence and context, a different format can show the work better.
The contact sheet
Film photographers will recognise the contact sheet: a print of a whole roll of film, frame by frame, marked up with a grease pencil to show the chosen shots. It shows the selected image and the process of choosing it.
As a website format, a contact sheet:
- Shows frames in sequence, which suits series and documentary work
- Gives a sense of the photographer's eye through the marks and selections
- Feels honest, because it shows the frames around the chosen one
- Suits film work in particular
Still is a free Framer template built around this idea. Work hangs on a contact sheet, marked up and circled. It has 13 designed pages, a photo archive CMS, a contact-sheet gallery system, an editorial type system and motion that stays out of the photograph's way. It is designed for film photographers, visual artists and creative portfolios.
The exhibition walk
Some work benefits from being seen one piece at a time, with space around it and a label beside it, the way you would see it in a gallery. A scroll-driven exhibition format moves the visitor from piece to piece, giving each its own moment.
This format suits:
- Painters and illustrators
- Fine art photographers
- Artists with a smaller body of work where each piece matters
Atrium ($49) mounts work in gilded frames under a starry night sky. A scroll-driven gallery cross-fades from piece to piece with museum-style wall labels, and a click-to-open lightbox shows each piece full screen. It includes six pages (Home, Works, About, Exhibitions, Journal and Contact), CMS collections for works and the journal, and a built-in editing guide. You swap the demo art for your own in the Framer canvas without code.
The desktop as the site
A third approach treats the website as a place to explore rather than a page to scroll. A visitor lands on what looks like an old computer desktop, opens folders and double-clicks files to see the work. It is playful and memorable, and it suits designers and artists whose work has a sense of humour or nostalgia.
Nostalgia.exe is a free Framer template that dresses a designer portfolio as a 2001 desktop. A visitor logs in, opens folders and double-clicks the work. The My Work folder holds six sample projects on the CMS, each opening as its own page, and AboutMe.txt is the about page.
This format asks more of the visitor, so it works best when the people you want to reach are likely to enjoy exploring. A commissioning art director may love it. A wedding client in a hurry may not.
Captions do more than you think
Whatever format you choose, captions matter. A short caption under each piece can give:
- The title and year
- The medium or the camera and film stock
- The place or context
- A sentence about why you made it
Captions help visitors connect with the work, and they give search engines text to read. Alt text, a short description of each image for people using screen readers, also helps search engines understand your images.
Keep it fast
Unusual formats can come with heavy images and effects. A portfolio that takes a long time to load loses visitors before they see anything. A few habits help:
- Export images at a sensible size for the web rather than uploading full-resolution files
- Let your website builder optimise images where it can
- Avoid autoplaying video unless it is short and compressed
- Test the site on a phone using mobile data
Before you publish
Whichever format you pick, replace every demo image and caption with your own, check that each piece opens correctly on a phone, and make sure your contact details or enquiry form work. Give each project page a descriptive title, such as "Coastal series, 35mm, 2025", so visitors and search engines both know what they are looking at.
Choosing one
Ask what your work needs and who you want to see it:
- Series and film work, shown in sequence: the contact sheet, using Still.
- Individual pieces that deserve space, shown like an exhibition: the exhibition walk, using Atrium.
- Playful work for an audience that likes to explore: the desktop, using Nostalgia.exe.
- Commercial work where clients need to see range quickly: a clean grid may still be the right choice.
For more options, see our lists of Framer templates for photographers and Framer templates for artists and painters.
The best portfolio is the one that shows your work the way you want it seen. If the grid does that, keep it. If it flattens your work into something that looks like everyone else's, try a format that gives it more room.