Fotoviva began in 2006 with one Nikon and a hobby. In December the Worcester family firm marks 20 years selling photographic wall art across the UK and USA.

Fotoviva Art Prints, a family business run from Shire Business Park in Worcester, reaches 20 years of trading this December. It started as one man’s photography hobby and a small online gallery. It now sells photographic wall art to customers across the UK and the USA.

The business is run by Jason Wickens, its founder and curator, and his wife Carly.

A Nikon and some encouraging friends

The story starts in 2006, when Jason “first picked up my trusty Nikon DSLR”, as he tells it on the Fotoviva website.

“What started as a simple hobby quickly turned into something extraordinary,” he writes. “Friends admired my photos and encouraged me to sell them online, sparking the idea that would eventually become Fotoviva.”

The turn came when other photographers asked to show their work on the site. “That’s when Fotoviva truly began to flourish,” he says. The firm describes that change as turning it into “a collaborative platform rather than a single-artist website”.

A wide-format Epson printer producing a large print of a red dahlia, with a man working at computer screens in the background
A large print of a dahlia coming off a wide-format printer. Photo: supplied by Fotoviva Art Prints

Photography only

Twenty years on, Fotoviva still sells photographs and nothing else: no paintings, no illustration, no digital art. Its page explaining the choice calls this “a deliberate decision”, and says keeping to one medium lets the firm “assess quality accurately, support photographers properly and maintain consistency across the collection”.

“Photography prints are not an add-on at Fotoviva,” it says. “It is the foundation the gallery was built on.”

The images come from a group of photographers the firm picks for their technical skill, and most of the collection is the natural world, with a strong lean towards British landscapes and coastlines. Several of them have won prizes. Fotoviva names Tim Wallace, one of its earliest contributors, who won “Best in Nation” for Team GB representing England at the World Photographic Cup, and Rick Bowden, who won two awards in the British Landscape Photographer of the Year competition in 2023.

A framed photograph of a Highland cow hanging above a tan leather sofa in an open-plan living room and kitchen
A framed Highland cow print on a living room wall. Photo: supplied by Fotoviva Art Prints

From front rooms to NHS wards

Most of what Fotoviva sells goes on the walls of private homes, but not all of it. The firm says its prints have hung in NHS wards, hospitality venues and exhibitions around the UK, and have been bought by interior designers and businesses. They have appeared on Channel 4’s 60 Minute Makeover and in the interiors magazine Livingetc.

“Today, Fotoviva Art Prints has grown beyond anything we could have imagined,” Jason writes. “It’s been an incredible journey, and we’re excited to keep bringing beautiful art to life in your spaces.”

A black-framed print of an orange butterfly on a pastel pink, blue and green background
A framed print of a butterfly. Photo: supplied by Fotoviva Art Prints

Canvas, acrylic or framed

Every image can be ordered in three formats, each made to order in the UK:

  • Canvas: the print is wrapped around a boxed wooden frame on stretcher bars, so it stands out from the wall.
  • Acrylic: the photograph is printed on photo paper and bonded to the back of a 10mm acrylic panel with diamond-polished edges, for a glossy finish.
  • Framed: the print sits behind an inner mount, with a choice of frame styles.

Printing is done by a professional print partner using Giclée processes and archival inks, the firm says. It makes nothing until it is ordered, a model it says is “designed to reduce waste and avoid overproduction”.

A canvas print of an autumn beech wood, with orange leaves covering a path between the trees, leaning against a grey wallA wood-framed print of a herd of deer on a grassy ridge under a stormy sky, lying on a linen surfaceA large canvas print of a white coneflower being held up against a wall, with smaller blank canvases stacked beside it

3 photos, swipe or scroll. Photos: supplied by Fotoviva Art Prints

Worcester, and twenty years in

The firm describes itself as “a family owned business based in Worcestershire” that takes as much pride in its customer service as in the pictures. Its website shows a rating of 4.9 out of 5 on Google Reviews.

A black-framed print of a white coneflower leaning against a wall between potted plants on a wooden floorA framed black and white photograph of a single small cloud above a dark tree, hanging above an orange sofaA tall framed photograph of a San Francisco street between skyscrapers at dusk, leaning against a wall beside a skateboard and a plant

3 photos, swipe or scroll. Photos: supplied by Fotoviva Art Prints

Getting in touch

Fotoviva Art Prints is at 1 Shire Business Park, Wainwright Road, Worcester WR4 9FA. The collection is online at fotoviva.co.uk, and the team can be reached on 01905 948642 or at info@fotoviva.co.uk.

Sponsored feature for Fotoviva Art Prints.