Most photographers don't need a $30/month website builder. If you're organized enough to shoot and edit consistently, you're organized enough to build a portfolio in Notion. It's fast, flexible, and free to start, and with the right setup, it looks genuinely professional.
This guide walks you through the exact steps to build your photography portfolio in Notion, from structuring your pages to publishing a live site with a custom domain. Templates are included so you don't have to start from scratch.
Don't open Notion yet. Spend five minutes deciding what your portfolio needs before you build it.
A photography portfolio typically needs four things: a home page with a strong visual first impression, a gallery or work section organized by category or project, an about page, and a way for people to contact you. That's it. Resist the temptation to add more until you've launched and gotten feedback.
Think about how you want to organize your work. Are you a wedding photographer with a handful of full shoot galleries? A street photographer with themed series? A commercial shooter with client work by industry? Your answer determines whether you need a simple gallery page, a database with filters, or a collection of separate project pages.
Here's a simple structure that works for most photographers:
Portfolio Home ├── Gallery (or "Work") │ ├── Project / Series 1 │ ├── Project / Series 2 │ └── Project / Series 3 ├── About └── Contact
Once you've sketched this out mentally (or on paper), you're ready to build.
Step 2: Set Up Your Notion Pages
Open Notion and create a new page as your portfolio home. Add your name or a short tagline as the title. Upload a strong cover photo and write a short, specific introduction about your work.
Create a “Gallery” subpage from the home page. Add project pages for curated shoots or use a gallery database for larger collections. Upload images using /image and keep high-quality JPEGs.
Add an About page explaining who you are and what you shoot. Include a personal photo to build trust. Create a simple Contact page with email, social links, or an embedded form.
Step 3: Organize and Curate Your Images
This is the step most photographers rush, and it shows. A portfolio with 200 photos is not more impressive than one with 30 exceptional ones. Edit ruthlessly.
For each project or gallery, aim for 12 to 20 images. Lead with your strongest image, not your chronologically first one. Think about the visual flow as someone scrolls: alternating between wide establishing shots and intimate details, varying orientation without making it chaotic, and ending on something memorable.
In Notion, you can reorder images by dragging them up or down within a page. If you're using a Gallery Database, use a "Sort Order" number property to control the sequence manually.
Add captions where they add value. For documentary or editorial work, a one-line caption with context (location, date, or a brief description) adds depth. For fine art work, captions are often optional. For client work, check whether your contracts allow naming clients publicly.
Step 4: Build Your Gallery and Project Pages
With your main pages ready, focus on your gallery - the core of your portfolio. This is where your work speaks.
Create a subpage for each project. Add a strong cover image, a short one-to-two line description, and 12–20 of your best photos. Keep text minimal and let the visuals lead.
For larger bodies of work, use Notion’s Gallery database. Add filters like genre, location, date, and client. This keeps your portfolio organized and scalable as it grows.
Step 5: Publish Your Notion Portfolio as a Real Website
A Notion page shared via the built-in "Share to web" toggle gives you a public link — but it comes with Notion's own interface, branding, and URL structure. It's not ideal for a professional portfolio.
To publish your Notion portfolio as a proper website with your own domain, use Bullet.so. It connects directly to Notion and converts your pages into a clean, fast-loading public site without requiring any code.
Here's how to do it:
First, in your Notion portfolio, click "Share" in the top-right corner and toggle on "Share to web." Copy the URL that Notion generates.
Next, go to bullet.so and create a free account. From your dashboard, click "Stract from scratch" and paste your Notion page URL and click “Build My Site”. Bullet.so pulls in all your content and generates a live preview within seconds at a yoursite.bullet.site subdomain.
The connection stays live. Any changes you make in Notion — new images, updated text, reorganized pages — automatically sync to your published site within about a minute. You never have to manually republish.
Design your site with Bullet AI. Once your site is connected, you can use Bullet's AI design panel to apply a visual theme. You can design and refine with follow-up prompts until it matches your vision. For photographers, the key settings to focus on are image display size, whitespace, and font pairing.
Add a custom domain. In your Bullet.so dashboard, go to Site Settings → Add Domain and enter your domain name. Bullet provides the DNS records; you add them in your domain registrar (Namecheap, GoDaddy, Google Domains, etc.). DNS propagation typically takes a few hours, after which your portfolio runs on your own URL with automatic SSL enabled.
Step 6: Configure SEO for Your Photography Portfolio
A portfolio no one can find brings no value, so basic SEO matters. Set a clear page title with your name and photography niche under 60 characters. This becomes the title shown in Google results.
Write a 150–160 character meta description describing your work, specialty, and location. Add descriptive alt text to each image so search engines and accessibility tools understand your photos.
Use proper heading structure: one H1, H2 for sections, and H3 for projects. Keep URLs simple like /gallery, /about, and /contact, while Bullet.so handles technical SEO automatically.
Step 7: Optimize for Mobile Visitors
More than half of portfolio visitors will view your work on a phone. Notion content is already mobile-responsive, but there are a few things worth checking.
Make sure your cover image works in portrait orientation. Notion crops cover images differently on mobile, so test on your phone and recrop if needed. Keep your text short enough that visitors reach your gallery quickly without excessive scrolling. And make sure your contact email or booking link is easily tappable — not buried in a paragraph.
In Bullet.so, click the mobile preview icon to see exactly how your portfolio renders on a small screen before you share it publicly.
Free Notion Photography Portfolio Templates
You don't have to build your portfolio from scratch. Here are the most useful ones pulled directly from the Notion Photography Templates page, each suited to a different kind of photographer.
1. Photography Portfolio - by Notion The official template was built by Notion's own team. It's a clean, image-forward portfolio and website template designed specifically for freelance photographers and artists to showcase their work and services. A reliable, no-fuss starting point.
2. Minimalist Photography Portfolio - by Ánh A free community template that strips everything back to the essentials. The layout is clean and quiet, letting your images take centre stage. Reviewers consistently praise how easy it is to edit and how well it adapts to different portfolio styles — from engineering to fine art.
3. Photography Website 2025 - Community Template A visually rich portfolio and website template for freelance photographers and artists. It's designed to present your work and services in a way that feels like a real website rather than a Notion document. Good choice if you want something that looks polished right out of the box.
4. Photography Portfolio Site - by The Goodies Lab Focused on photographers who also want to display their service offerings and pricing. Includes sections for your portfolio, services, and a pricing structure — useful if your portfolio needs to double as a soft sales page for prospective clients.
5. Your Visual Portfolio - Community Template A well-reviewed free template that combines portfolio presentation with lightweight business management. Includes a detailed pricing-by-service section, project management views, and client-facing pages — all in one workspace. Particularly well-suited to working photographers who need more than just a gallery.
6. Portfolio of Photographer - Community Template A straightforward, no-frills portfolio template for photographers who want a simple, gallery-style presentation without extra features. Best as a lightweight option if the other templates feel like more than you need.
To use any of these, open the link and click "Get template" in the top-right corner of the template page. This copies the full structure into your Notion account, ready for you to replace the placeholder content with your own work. All six are free, and none require a paid Notion plan.
Final Thoughts
Notion won't replace a fully custom-built portfolio site for every photographer. But for most people, especially those early in their careers, shifting their focus, or simply being unwilling to maintain a separate website, it's one of the most practical options available.
The workflow is direct: build in Notion, publish with Bullet.so, refine based on what you learn. You can have a live portfolio online this afternoon. Update it anytime from your phone. And spend your remaining time and money on the things that actually move the needle, shooting more, reaching out to clients, and developing your creative voice.
Start with the template that fits your current body of work, and adjust as you grow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use Notion as a photography portfolio?
Yes — Notion supports cover images, galleries, and databases that work well for portfolios. Pair it with Bullet.so to publish it as a real website with a custom domain and SEO controls.
How do I publish a Notion photography portfolio with a custom domain?
Notion supports custom domains, but only with the $9 paid plan. Connect your Notion page to Bullet.so, go to Site Settings → Add Domain, add the provided DNS records to your registrar, and your portfolio goes live on your own URL with SSL enabled automatically.
Is Notion good for a freelance photographer's portfolio?
Yes. Notion is free, easy to update from any device, and keeps your portfolio and client management in one workspace. Published through Bullet.so, it looks as professional as any paid website builder.
How do I make my Notion photography portfolio look professional?
Use a high-resolution cover image, write a specific bio, and curate only your best 20–40 images. Publish through Bullet.so for clean typography, consistent spacing, and a custom domain — the combination reads as polished and intentional.