Photographs were sold in a variety of places in the 19th century, including bookstores, stationary stores, art galleries, and photography studios. They were also sold at exhibitions, fairs, and trade shows.

Photographers also sold their images to publishers who used them as illustrations in books. Many of these illustrations were produced using a combination of photography and engraving, which allowed them to be printed in high quality. Finally, the invention of the halftone process in the 1880s allowed photographs to be reproduced more cheaply and easily, which opened up new opportunities for photographers to market their work. This process enabled newspapers and magazines to reproduce photographs on a much larger scale, and also allowed photographers to sell their images to a larger audience