Finding the perfect theme for a WordPress site is often a difficult task. The overwhelming number of choices itself is the main reason. And if you are looking for the best photography theme for WordPress, then it can be even more daunting.
The reason is, photography is a broad topic. So, the design requirements for each website is different. For example, wedding photo websites usually need an elegant and soft feel to it. Whereas a wildlife photography website is totally different. It requires a rugged look and feel.
There may be a ton of themes out there that come with the tag 'photography', but they hugely differ from one another in terms of design.
How to search for photography themes?
If you have enough time and budget to complete a website project, then the best approach is to find/create a design and then convert it to WordPress using a page builder like Elementor. That's my preferred method if I get enough time to complete a website. Or, you can even custom code a theme from scratch.
But that's not what we're going to discuss here. Suppose you have only a short amount of time to finish a website. In that case, what you need is a niche photography theme that requires only:
- minimal amount of customization to get into the final website
So, I have spent my time going through real photography sites made with WordPress and tried to find out what themes they were using. For example, I googled 'best wedding photographers in Mumbai', or 'top travel photographers', and visited the websites that came up on the front page.
Some of them were not even built with WordPress while some of them used custom themes. But in between, I could find a handful of great-looking websites that were made with themes that you and I can also get. You can also do this on your own with the help of a service like WP Theme Detector.
Then I combined those insights with what I already knew to come up with the below list.
Some of them are niche photography themes while some are multi-purpose. Since most multi-purpose themes ship with niche-specific layouts/demos, I have included them as sub-sections at appropriate places.
Note: I haven't tried all of the themes listed below, although I do have experience with some of them.
With that, let us dive into the theme list.
1. Flothemes Mono
Flothemes is a premium WordPress theme provider whose themes are exclusively designed for creative professionals, especially photographers. And Mono is currently their flagship photography theme.
Not just Mono, all their themes have a minimal and classic look, which truly helps your photos to stand out. You can also customize it further using FlexBlock, their theme editor, which works like a page builder. Moreover, each theme comes with multiple style kits, which you can choose from the dashboard.
With all these features and attention to detail, the pricing is on the upper end though, compared to other premium themes. Mono currently sells at $279 for one site.
However, if you are a professional photographer or a photography studio, then this price may not bother you. Many photographers seem to love their themes, as evident from the testimonials you can see on Flotheme's site.
With their minimal and elegant looks, most of the themes suit well for wedding photography. Not just wedding sites, with a few tweaks in colors and fonts, you can easily make them work for other genres as well.
- Type: niche theme
- Min. price: $279
2. Astra
Astra may not be as polished as Flothemes. It's not a niche-specific theme either. However, it offers a collection of starter templates catering to a wide variety of niches. In my review of the Astra theme, I had discussed that in detail.
Also, since Astra is a freemium theme, you can download the base theme for free from the WordPress themes directory. Not just the base theme, around fifty of the starter templates are also free.
Out of these, the Sierra Nature and Outdoor Adventure templates are great for travel and wildlife photographers. For example, as I am writing this post, Colby Brown Photography seems to be using the Sierra template [see the web archive].
If you purchase an Agency license that costs $169, then you get access to the Agency starter sites as well, in addition to the free sites. Among these, there are two more demos that are photography-specific: Photography Portfolio, and Photographer.
If you are a web design agency, or if you are someone who creates multiple websites, then, in my opinion, getting an Astra Agency license may be beneficial for you. The primary reason is, Astra allows unlimited site usage.
And when you come across a small-scale photo website project, you can easily import one of the demo sites. They are compatible with the Elementor and Beaver builders so that you can easily customize it to your requirements.
Otherwise, if you are looking for a niche theme, then there are better options than Astra.
- Type: multipurpose theme with niche demos
3. Neve
Neve is another multi-purpose theme that is in the same league as Astra and OceanWP (see below). Both give the base theme for free with ready-to-import starter templates.
A premium license unlocks more features, along with more templates. There are more than a hundred templates available right now. Out of these, four are photography-related:
- Photographer
- Photography Studio
- Wedding Photography
- Photography
Among these four templates, the last one - Photography - is available for free. That means you can use it with the free version of Neve to create a site.
Neve is created by ThemeIsle, and the price starts at $46 for the Personal plan. But it doesn't include the premium templates. For that, you need a Business or Agency license.
- Type: multipurpose theme with niche demos
- Starting Price: $59
4. Photocrati
If you have ever created a gallery in WordPress, you might have come across the NextGen gallery plugin. Or at least you might have heard of it. It is the most popular WordPress gallery plugin.
Photocrati is a premium WordPress theme from Imagely - the same people behind the NextGen gallery. As a niche theme aimed at professional photographers, it offers some advanced features not usually seen on other themes.
These include automatic print fulfillment and eCommerce integration. So, it makes things easy if want to sell your photos through your website. And it's the reason why I included Photocrati as the first item in this list.
There are also ~12 starter designs, each one offering tons of customization options available in the WordPress customizer.
- The price for a single site license is $79.
- Type: niche theme
5. Pepper+ Photography
Artisan Themes is a niche WordPress theme creator. Their themes stand out from the rest in terms of quality and design aesthetics. Each of their themes comes with a handful of starter sites.
Pepper+ with the Photography site is one of them. It has a minimalist yet elegant feel, which is well-suited for studios and wedding photography sites.
Artisan follows a modular approach to theme design. That means the theme comes with ready-made sections like carousel, gallery, portfolio, etc.
The theme also comes with its own frontend page builder. So, there is no need to install Elementor or other third-party builders.
The price for a single theme is $129, which includes the themes, pages plugin, advanced styles plugin, and the demo sites.
6. Divi
Divi is another multi-purpose WordPress theme. However, it is a lot different from Astra. Firstly, there is no free version. It's premium-only.
And secondly, Divi is not just a theme, it's a theme and template builder. Divi Builder is a powerful visual editor that allows customizing all the aspects of your site.
The pricing is $89/year that allows unlimited site usage. The theme is created by Elegant Themes, who also have a near-perfect 5/5 rating on Trustpilot.
So, pricing and feature-wise, Divi is a great tool to have at your disposal if you are a design agency or a freelance web designer.
You also get access to over 180 layout packs, out of which a couple of them are photography-related:
Wedding Photographer
This layout pack is crafted for wedding photographers. There are nine different page layouts in it, including a gallery, pricing page, blog, and portfolio pages. Overall, it looks elegant, perfect for a wedding photography business.
Photo Marketplace
If you are about to create a stock photo website, like Unsplash, then you may find this layout useful. There are seven layouts in the pack. However, since it is made for marketplace sites, it does not include a portfolio gallery page. So, it may not be that useful for photographer portfolios.
- Type: multipurpose theme with niche demos
- Min. price: $89
7. CSSIgniter
CSSIgniter is a traditional theme marketplace where you can find only niche themes. As of now, their collection includes around 80 themes, suitable for different categories ranging from blogging to eCommerce.
Lense
Coming to the photography category, there are almost ten different themes available in CSSIgniter's collection. And Lense is one among them. It's best for photographers who want to showcase their work online. There are multiple gallery layouts, like slider gallery, scrolling gallery, masonry, and justified layouts.
However, the demo site doesn't include a pricing page. So it may not be great if you are looking to sell your services although you can easily create one yourself.
The pricing for a single theme is $49 for one year. Instead, if you want to get access to all the themes in their collection, there is a Standard license that costs $69.
- Type: niche theme
- Min. price: $49
8. Kalium
Kalium is a portfolio theme for creatives, sold through Themeforest, one of the largest WordPress theme marketplaces. Currently, the theme has over 36k sales and a 4.94/5 rating, which is great.
As a multipurpose creative theme, Kalium also comes with pre-made site demos. Out of these, the one we want to check out is:
- Photography [view the demo]: it's minimal but sufficient to showcase your galleries.
Another one I liked much is:
- Travel [view the demo]: this layout will be useful for travel photographers and bloggers.
Kalium uses the WP Bakery page builder as its visual editor, and it supports a ton of features. One of the real sites you can find out there using Kalium is Parallax Photographic Coop. It's not a portfolio site, but an online store selling film-based products.
- Type: creative multipurpose theme with niche demos
- Price: $59, use on one site
9. OceanWP
OceanWP is a free WordPress theme with lots of features. I had reviewed it in detail in another post. The theme has over 600k installations and a 5/5 rating in the WordPress directory.
Similar to Astra, OceanWP also provides demo sites. There are 70+ sites in the collection, although the majority are paid offerings. That means, the core theme is free, but you have to purchase their Core Extension Bundle to unlock additional features and the premium demo sites.
Out of these demo sites, you might want to look at the following three demos:
- Studio [visit demo]
- Photo [visit demo]
- Photography [visit demo]
OceanWP Photography Demo
Apart from that, there is also a Travel demo, which might appeal to you if you are a travel photographer.
The starting price is only $39 for one site, which lower than most of the other themes. So, it's a highly affordable option if you are planning to build a site. That's where I want to mention OceanWP's disadvantage. Even in the highest Agency plan, OceanWP Pro doesn't allow unlimited site usage.
- Type: multipurpose theme with niche demos
- Min. Price: $39
10. The7
In Themeforest, The7 is listed under the Corporate category. But it has a couple of demos that can appeal to photographers and creatives.
For example, look at the Main demo itself:
It comes with a beautiful hero section on the home page (left) and photo gallery pages (right). Its colorful and vibrant design cue can be a great fit for travel and nature photographers.
Another one is the Photo demo, which gives a full-width carousel on the home page, along with the other pages accessible using the hamburger menu from the top. The design looks classic, which is best for wedding and event photographers.
With 200k+ sales, The7 is one of the most popular themes on Themeforest. The rating is 4.75/5. And the price is $39, which is much lower than most of the other themes on Themeforest.
- Type: corporate multipurpose theme with niche demos for photography
- Price: $39
11. Uncode
Uncode is another theme sold from Themeforest. It's created by Undsgn and has close to 80k sales and ~4.9/5 rating. The price is $59 for a regular license, which limits the usage to just one site.
Out of the 70+ demos, these are the three that I found interesting from a photography point of view:
- Classic Photographer: as the name suggests, this demo has a classic design that suits well for wedding photography websites.
- Portfolio Photos: well suited for portfolio sites, this demo has a dark color mode with a gallery on the home page.
- Portfolio Gallery: quite similar to the above one, but with a light color mode and full-width layouts.
Uncode Classic Photographer Demo
Furthermore, to customize these designs further, Uncode gives a customized version of the WP Bakery Page Builder that allows both backend and frontend editing.
- Type: multipurpose theme with niche demos
- Price: $59
12. Graph Paper Press
Like Photocrati, Graph Paper Press is another provider focusing on photography WordPress websites. In addition to the themes, they also offer plugins like Subscription and Sell Media, which allows selling and licensing your photography works.
The price starts at $99, which gives access to all the 45+ themes in their collection.
13. Cyberchimps Photo Studio
Finally, if you are looking for a free theme for your photography site, then check out Cyberchimps Responsive theme. Yes, Responsive is the name of the theme. It is available for download from the WordPress theme directory and has 40k+ downloads so far.
After installing the theme, you can import one of the free templates. Photo Studio is one of them, which is suitable for portfolios and studios. Overall, the template has a minimal and uncluttered design.
A Premium version is also available - Responsive Pro - that unlocks more layout options, priority support, and access to premium templates. There are three plans, and the starting price is $47 for Personal.
Visit Cyberchimps Photography Theme
Conclusion
I hope the above list will help you to pick a theme for your photography site. I also know that I haven't mentioned many of the options available out there. I could make a list of the top twenty-five or top hundred themes, but remember, I have included only the top ten choices I would consider when building a photography site.
Anyway, if you haven't found your favorite theme in the list, feel free to mention it in the comments below.
