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Millions in moments of life. The most expensive photograph in the world

The cost of some photographs is comparable to the cost of the most famous works of the great Renaissance artists. What is the value of these photographs? What distinguishes them from the millions of selfies, photos of cats and children that we see every day? What reasons make art connoisseurs shell out incredible sums for exclusive photographs? We present to you the most expensive photographs in the world.

1. Peter Likom: Phantom ($6.5 million)

The photograph, taken in 1999 by Peter Lik, is called "Phantom". Its cost is estimated at 6.5 (!) million dollars. So far this is the most expensive photograph in the world in history. Peter Lik made it while he was in Arizona.

2. Andreas Gursky: Rhein II ($4.33 million)

This photo has made the rounds on the Internet more than once. The author is German Andreas Gursky. The photo, taken in 1999, is called "Rhine II". The price of the photograph is impressive: $4,338 thousand. Gursky is a famous photographic artist, and in his collection there are several photographs sold for millions of dollars. The photo shows the German Rhine River between dams in rainy weather.

The original version featured a power plant, a passerby and a dog. The author retouched all this in Photoshop. This is one of the photographs from the Rhine series. The photograph was auctioned in 2011 at Christie's. Its first owner was the Cologne gallery of Monika Sprüt, then the work went to an unknown collector.

3. Cindy Sherman: « No. 96" ($3.89 million)

The work of the extravagant American photographer Cindy Sherman was made using the technique of so-called staged photographs. This is her most expensive and widely famous work taken in 1981, instead of the title there is No. 96. The photo was purchased for $3,890 thousand. The picture shows a bright girl: red hair, freckles, orange clothes.

Cindy Sherman, a self-described performance artist, brings a special meaning to photography. In her opinion, this was an attempt to capture the realization of immature femininity through the innocent image of a young pretty girl. A teenager holds in his hands a piece of newspaper with dating advertisements. The photograph was sold in 2011 at Christie’s auction.

4. Jeff Wall: Dead Warriors Speak ($3.66 million)

“Dead Warriors Speak” is a photograph with such an epic title, strictly speaking, and not a photograph at all. This is a masterful photo collage made by Jeff Wall in 1992 and sold at auction for $3,666,500. It looks very realistic but is staged. The plot takes place in 1986 in Afghanistan. The photo shows a military ambush of Red Army soldiers, but in reality it is a dozen professional actors posing. The historicity is preserved - the characters are made up and dressed in appropriate costumes. The photograph taken in the studio was later processed by Jeff Wall in a photo editor.

5. Richard Prince: “Cowboy” ($3.4 million)

In 2001–2002, Richard Prince created a photograph for a Marlboro advertisement and called it "Cowboy". In 2007, “Cowboy” was sold at Christie’s for a whopping $3.4 million.

6. Andreas Gursky: “99 Cents” ($3.34 million)

Andreas Gursky's insanely expensive 2001 diptych 99 Cents II depicts a moment from a day at a 99 Cent store. Like the Rhine II, which was already mentioned above, the picture is extremely popular. Perhaps the style of photography, the insane perfectionism in organizing the goods, the spirit of consumption - all this made the work one of the most expensive in history. 99 Cents II was purchased by a collector for $3,346,456.

7. Edward Steichen: “Moonlight Pond” ($3 million)

This photograph by Edward Steichen does not pretend to be deeply meaningful or particularly eccentric. Its uniqueness and value are determined by the fact that “Pond by Moonlight” is the first color photography in the history of photography, made at night. Steichen made it in 1904. Now it's worth almost $3 million.

8. Cindy Sherman:« No. 153" ($2.7 million)

9. Andreas Gursky:"Chicago Chamber of Commerce -III" ($2.35 million)

An equally popular photograph by Andreas Gursky, sold for $2,355,597, is called “Chicago Board of Trade III.” It was also made in a series from 1999 to 2009. This photo is of exceptional resolution. The huge canvas print (approximately 185 x 240 cm) depicts the everyday life of the Chicago Chamber of Commerce. If you enlarge the picture, you can see the working staff, computers, and clothing down to the smallest detail. The photograph was bought for more than two million dollars in 2013.

10. Fort Sumner from New Mexico: “Billy the Kid” ($2.3 million)

Billy the Kid, aka Fort Sumner from New Mexico, is known to modern times from one surviving photograph. The photograph was presumably taken in 1879–1880; history has not preserved the name of the author. The unique photograph was purchased by an unknown collector for $2.3 million several years ago.

11. Dmitry Medvedev: “Tobolsk Kremlin” ($1.7 million)

The photograph “Tobolsk Kremlin” went under the hammer at the “Christmas ABC” auction dedicated to charity. The cost of the work is impressive by Russian standards - 51 million rubles. ($1.7 million at the 2009 exchange rate) The uniqueness of the photograph is due to the uniqueness of the author. It was taken in 2009 by now ex-President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev from a bird's eye view during an excursion.

12. Edward Weston: Naked Exposure ($1.6 million)

"Nude Exposure" by Edward Weston is an erotic photograph taken in 1925 that depicts the naked body of Tina Modotti. Weston’s beloved woman and assistant helped him create the photograph, which, according to 2008 data, is estimated at $1,609 thousand.

13. Alfred Stieglitz: Georgia O'Keeffe ($1.47 million)

In 1919, Alfred Stieglitz took a powerful photograph of the inspired hands of artist Georgia O'Keeffe. The photograph of the same name “Georgia O’Keeffe” in the winter of 2006 was sold at the famous New York auction Sotheby’s for $1,470 thousand.

14. Alfred Stieglitz: “Georgia O'Keeffe (Nude)” ($1.36 million)

"Georgia O'Keeffe (Nude)", Alfred Stieglitz. The photo was sold for $1,360,000 in February 2006 at Sotheby's in New York.

The cost of photographs can be explained by the fact that Alfred Stieglitz was the man who almost single-handedly “pushed” the United States into the world of art of the 20th century. Stieglitz's passionate struggle for recognition of photography as an art form was ultimately crowned with his unconditional triumph.

15. Richard Avedon: Dovima and the Elephants ($1.15 million)

At one of the exhibitions in 1955, Richard Avedon presented the photograph “Dovima and the Elephants.” A Christie's auction in 2010 found a buyer who purchased the photograph for $1,151,976.

16. Peter Lik: “Alone” ($1 million)

Another photograph by Peter Lik, entitled “Alone,” taken a year later, was sold to a private collector for $1 million. The price of the photograph may be due to the fact that the author took a single frame and printed only one photograph. On his website, Peter Lik says that the photo was and will be one of a kind. By the way, it was made in New Hampshire, on the Androscoggin River, in America.

Some photographs are comparable in value to paintings by Renaissance artists. What is their value? How do they differ from the great many photos of cats, children and flowers that multiply every day on all kinds of photo sites and social networks? What makes art connoisseurs shell out incredible sums for exclusive photographs? Below is a selection of the most expensive photographs in the world today.

The photograph, taken in 1999 by Peter Lik, is called "Phantom". Its cost is estimated at 6 million 500 thousand dollars! So far this is the most expensive photograph in the world in history. Peter Leake took it while he was in Antelope Canyon, Arizona.

This photo has made the rounds on the Internet more than once. The author is German Andreas Gursky. The photo, taken in 1999, is called "Rhine II". The price of the photographic work is impressive: 4 million 338 thousand dollars. Gursky is a renowned photographer and has several photographs in his collection that have sold for millions of dollars. The photo shows the German Rhine River between dams in rainy weather. The original version featured a power plant, a passerby and a dog. The author retouched all this in Photoshop. This is one of the photographs from the Rhine series. The photograph was auctioned in 2011 at Christie's. Its first owner was the Cologne gallery of Monika Sprüt, then the work went to an unknown collector.

The work of the extravagant American photographer Cindy Sherman was made using the technique of so-called staged photographs. This is her most expensive and widely known work, made in 1981, instead of the title there is No. 96. The photo was purchased for 3 million 890 thousand dollars. The picture shows a bright girl: red hair, freckles, orange clothes. Cindy Sherman, a self-described performance artist, brings a special meaning to photography. In her opinion, this was an attempt to capture the realization of immature femininity through the innocent image of a young pretty girl. A teenager holds in his hands a piece of newspaper with dating advertisements. The photograph was sold in 2011 at Christie’s auction.

“Dead Warriors Speak” is a photograph with such an epic title, strictly speaking, and not a photograph at all. This is a masterful photo collage made by Jeff Wall in 1992 and sold at auction for $3 million, 666,500. It looks very realistic but is staged. The plot takes place in 1986 in Afghanistan. The photo shows a military ambush of Red Army soldiers, but in reality it is a dozen professional actors posing. The historicity is preserved - the characters are made up and dressed in appropriate costumes. The photograph taken in the studio was later processed by Jeff Wall in a photo editor.

In 2001–2002, Richard Prince created a photograph for a Marlboro advertisement and called it "Cowboy". In 2007, “Cowboy” was sold at auction at Christie’s for the enormous sum of 3 million 340 thousand dollars.

Andreas Gursky's insanely expensive 2001 diptych 99 Cents II depicts a moment from a day at a 99 Cent store. Like “Rhine II”, which was already mentioned above, the picture is extremely popular. Perhaps the style of photography, the insane perfectionism in organizing the goods, the spirit of consumption - all this made the work one of the most expensive in history. 99 Cents II was purchased by a collector for $3,346,456.

This photograph by Edward Steichen does not pretend to be deeply meaningful or particularly eccentric. Its uniqueness and value are determined by the fact that “Pond by Moonlight” is the first color photograph in the history of photography taken at night. Steichen made it in 1904. Now it's worth almost $3 million.

An equally popular photograph by Andreas Gursky, sold for $2 million, 355,597, is called “Chicago Board of Trade III.” It was also made in a series from 1999 to 2009. This photo is of exceptional resolution. The huge canvas print (approximately 185 x 240 cm) depicts the everyday life of the Chicago Chamber of Commerce. If you enlarge the picture, you can see the working staff, computers, and clothing down to the smallest detail. The photograph was bought for more than two million dollars in 2013.

Billy the Kid, aka Fort Sumner from New Mexico, is known to modern times from one surviving photograph. The photograph was presumably taken in 1879–1880; history has not preserved the name of the author. The unique photograph was bought by an unknown collector for 2 million 300 thousand dollars several years ago.

In 1919, Alfred Stieglitz took a powerful photograph of the inspired hands of artist Georgia O'Keeffe. The photograph of the same name “Georgia O’Keefe” in the winter of 2006 was sold at the famous New York auction Sotheby’s for $1 million 470 thousand.

"Georgia O'Keeffe (Nude)", Alfred Stieglitz. The photo was sold for 1 million 360 thousand dollars in February 2006 at Sotheby's auction in New York.

We have already discussed more than once the topic of value and the real adequate cost of creativity and works of art. But, art is subjective and, most often, does not lend itself to reasonable interpretation, as well as the prices for these photographs, which cost just crazy money!!!

1. Phantom (1999)

The photograph, taken in 1999 by Peter Lik, is called "Phantom". Its cost is estimated at 6.5 million dollars!!! So far this is the most expensive photograph in the world in history. Peter Leake took it while he was in Antelope Canyon, Arizona.

2. Rain II (1999)

Author: Andreas Gursky
Price: $4.34 million

Andreas Gursky is a famous German photographer; he has many photographs that were later sold for incredible amounts of money. In 1999, he took the photograph "Rhine II", which shows the Rhine River between two dams under a majestic overcast sky. In total, Gursky created six images of the Rhine, and "Rhine II" is the largest photograph in the series.
The most amazing thing about the photo is that it was made using Photoshop: initially the background was “spoilt” by a power plant, port facilities and a passerby walking his dog - all of this was removed by Gursky, leaving only the Rhine itself and the dams.
Gursky commented on his actions: "Paradoxically, this view of the Rhine could not be obtained in situ; modification was necessary to provide an accurate image of the modern river."
After finalization, the photographer printed a photograph measuring 185.4 x 363.5 cm, mounted it on acrylic glass and placed it in a frame. The photograph was sold at Christie's in New York for $4,338,500 in 2011 - the buyer was the Monika Sprüth gallery in Cologne, and the photograph was subsequently resold to an unknown collector.

3. Untitled #96 (1981)

Author: Cindy Sherman
Price: $3.89 million

American photographer Cindy Sherman works in the technique of staged photographs. Her work is widely known among the arts community, and she is ranked seventh on ArtReview's 2011 list of the 100 Most Influential People in the Art World. Sherman herself calls herself a performance artist and categorically refuses to recognize herself as a photographer.
One of her most famous and expensive works is photograph #96, taken in 1981: the picture shows a girl, freckled, with red hair and wearing bright orange clothes, lying on her back and looking into the distance. According to Sherman, the photograph carries a deep meaning - a teenage girl, at the same time seductive and innocent, holds in her hand a piece of newspaper with dating advertisements, which means that the still fragile female essence is looking for a way to break out.
The photograph was purchased at a Christie’s auction in 2011 by an unknown collector.

4. For Her Majesty, a collage of photographs (1973)

Authors: Gilbert Prosch and George Passmore
Price: $3.77 million

British artists Gilbert Prosch and George Passmore work in the genre of performance photography. Their works in which they acted as living sculptures brought them worldwide fame.
Their collage of photographs, taken back in 1973, was sold for a lot of money at auction in 2008: black and white photographs depict men in expensive suits combined with interior items. Buyer unknown.

5. “Dead Warriors Speak” (1992)

Author: Jeff Wall
Price: $3.67 million

Canadian photographer Jeff Wall is known for his large format photographs: " business card The artist’s work is the technique he developed for printing photographs on a transparent basis.
His most famous work, “Dead Warriors Speak,” was created under the influence of the war in Afghanistan. Despite the realism, this is a staged photograph: all the people in the picture are guest actors. When working on it, Wall used makeup and costumes, and the photo itself was taken in a photo studio and later processed on a computer.
The finished image, measuring 229x417 cm, was printed on a transparent base and placed in a plastic box.

6. Untitled (Cowboy) (2001–2002)

Author: Richard Prince
Price: $3.40 million

Richard Prince is considered one of the most celebrated American artists of his generation. The main themes of his works are stylization for the period of so-called “American antiquity” and modern world consumption. Three photographs brought him world fame, including “Cowboy”.
The photograph was created specifically for the Marlboro advertising campaign: the cowboy in the picture, according to the artist, appears not as a typical standard of American courage glorified in Westerns, but as some kind of illusory sex symbol, an unattainable ideal of a real man.
The painting was sold in 2007 at Christie’s auction.

7. 99 cents II, diptych (2001)

Author: Andreas Gursky
Price: $3.35 million

The aforementioned “Rhine II” is not Gursky’s only million-selling photograph: his two-photo work “99 Cents II” sold for less, but still brought in several million more dollars for its creator.
The photographs show a supermarket where consumer goods are displayed. In general, the two photographs are strikingly similar and differ only in angles. Of course, Gursky resorted to computer processing to remove unnecessary details from the photographs - buyers, low-hanging lamps and wires.
The photograph was purchased in 2007 by Ukrainian businessman Viktor Pinchuk. The high cost of the photographs is due, first of all, to the name of the author, which by the time of sale had already acquired enormous fame.

8. Los Angeles (1998)

Author: Andreas Gursky
Price: $2.94 million

Another photograph by Gursky depicts the night landscape of Los Angeles - the city from a bird's eye view looks like a field of distant artificial lights. Photography symbolizes the modern world and man’s place in it. According to the artist, man is the main character of this photograph: everyone lives in huge world general globalization, where he takes the place of just one of millions of the same ordinary people.

9. Lake in the Moonlight (1904)

Author: Edward Steichen
Price: $2.93 million

Impressionist artist Edward Steichen worked in the first half of the 20th century: he created a famous series of portraits of Hollywood celebrities, and later took up documentary filmmaking, for which he received several Oscars.
His most famous photographic work, “Lake in the Moonlight,” is an autochrome photograph: originally a black and white photograph, “Lake” acquired color thanks to Steichen’s use of light-sensitive jelly. No one had used this technology before, so the picture can be considered the world's first color photograph.
In 2006, “Lake in the Moonlight” was sold at Sotheby’s for a huge amount of money. The price can be considered reasonable - the photograph is more than a century old, and it is an excellent preserved illustration of the history of photography.

10. Untitled #153 (1985)

Author: Cindy Sherman
Price: $2.77 million

Another example of Cindy Sherman's work is untitled photograph #153. It depicts a dead, mud-stained woman with bluish-gray hair, glassy eyes looking up at the sky, her mouth half-open, and a bruise visible on her cheek. The photo leaves behind an eerie feeling, but, nevertheless, it was sold at auction for a seven-figure sum.

11. Billy the Kid (1879–80)

Author: unknown
Price: $2.30 million

Billy the Kid was an American criminal accused of killing 21 people. The governor of one of the states of the Wild West offered a large reward for his capture, and Kid was killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett, who then wrote a biography of the thug.
The uniqueness of this photograph is that it is the only image of Billy the Kid; no other photographs exist. It was sold in 2011 at the 22nd annual Brian Lebel's Old West Show & Auction in Denver. Collector William Koch bought it for more than $2 million, although the organizers initially did not expect to receive more than $400 thousand for the photo.
The authorship is attributed to Kid's friend Dan Dedrick, but it is no longer possible to determine exactly who took the photo. The photograph was taken using the ambrotype method, using metal plate, and the image on it is mirrored.

12. Tobolsk Kremlin (2009)

Author: Dmitry Medvedev
Price: $1.70 million

13. Naked Exposure (1925)

Author: Edward Weston
Price: $1.60 million

14. Georgia O'Keeffe (1919)

Author: Alfred Stieglitz
Price: $1.47 million

15. Georgia O'Keeffe (Nude)

Author: Alfred Stieglitz
Price: $1.36 million

The photo was sold for $1,360,000 in February 2006 at Sotheby's in New York. The cost of photographs can be explained by the fact that Alfred Stieglitz was the man who almost single-handedly “pushed” the United States into the world of art of the 20th century. Stieglitz's passionate struggle for recognition of photography as an art form was ultimately crowned with his unconditional triumph.

Sources:

Sometimes photographers amaze us with their art, their ability to reflect in a unique way the world and make you look at it from a different angle. And sometimes they do something completely disgusting or so ordinary that it is impossible to understand why the work is recognized as a masterpiece. One way or another, these photographs were sold for millions of dollars.

1. Rain II (1999)

The most amazing thing about the photo is that it was made using Photoshop: initially the background was “spoilt” by a power plant, port facilities and a passerby walking his dog - all of this was removed by Gursky, leaving only the Rhine itself and the dams.

Gursky commented on his actions: "Paradoxically, this view of the Rhine could not be obtained in situ; modification was necessary to provide an accurate image of the modern river."

After finalization, the photographer printed a photograph measuring 185.4 x 363.5 cm, mounted it on acrylic glass and placed it in a frame. The photograph was sold at Christie's in New York for $4,338,500 in 2011 - the buyer was the Monika Sprüth gallery in Cologne, and the photograph was subsequently resold to an unknown collector.

2. Untitled #96 (1981)

One of her most famous and expensive works is photograph #96, taken in 1981: the picture shows a girl, freckled, with red hair and wearing bright orange clothes, lying on her back and looking into the distance. According to Sherman, the photograph carries a deep meaning - a teenage girl, at the same time seductive and innocent, holds in her hand a piece of newspaper with dating advertisements, which means that the still fragile female essence is looking for a way to break out.

The photograph was purchased at a Christie’s auction in 2011 by an unknown collector.

3. For Her Majesty, a collage of photographs (1973)

British artists Gilbert Prosch and George Passmore work in the genre of performance photography. Their works in which they acted as living sculptures brought them worldwide fame.

Their collage of photographs, taken back in 1973, was sold for a lot of money at auction in 2008: black and white photographs depict men in expensive suits combined with interior items. Buyer unknown.

4. “Dead Warriors Speak” (1992)

Canadian photographer Jeff Wall is known for his large-format photographs: the artist’s “calling card” is the technique he developed for printing photographs on a transparent basis.

His most famous work, “Dead Warriors Speak,” was created under the influence of the war in Afghanistan. Despite the realism, this is a staged photograph: all the people in the picture are guest actors. When working on it, Wall used makeup and costumes, and the photo itself was taken in a photo studio and later processed on a computer.

The finished image, measuring 229x417 cm, was printed on a transparent base and placed in a plastic box.

5. Untitled (Cowboy) (2001–2002)

Richard Prince is considered one of the most celebrated American artists of his generation. The main themes of his works are stylization of the period of the so-called “American antiquity” and the modern world of consumption. Three photographs brought him world fame, including “Cowboy”.

The photograph was created specifically for the Marlboro advertising campaign: the cowboy in the picture, according to the artist, appears not as a typical standard of American courage glorified in Westerns, but as some kind of illusory sex symbol, an unattainable ideal of a real man.

The painting was sold in 2007 at Christie’s auction.

6. 99 cents II, diptych (2001)

The photographs show a supermarket where consumer goods are displayed. In general, the two photographs are strikingly similar and differ only in angles. Of course, Gursky resorted to computer processing to remove unnecessary details from the photographs - buyers, low-hanging lamps and wires.

The photograph was purchased in 2007 by Ukrainian businessman Viktor Pinchuk. The high cost of the photographs is due, first of all, to the name of the author, which by the time of sale had already acquired enormous fame.

7. Los Angeles (1998)

Another photograph by Gursky depicts the night landscape of Los Angeles - the city from a bird's eye view looks like a field of distant artificial lights. Photography symbolizes the modern world and man’s place in it. According to the artist’s idea, man is the main character of this photograph: everyone lives in a huge world of universal globalization, where he takes the place of just one of millions of the same inhabitants.

8. Lake in the Moonlight (1904)

His most famous photographic work, “Lake in the Moonlight,” is an autochrome photograph: originally a black and white photograph, “Lake” acquired color thanks to Steichen’s use of light-sensitive jelly. No one had used this technology before, so the picture can be considered the world's first color photograph.

In 2006, “Lake in the Moonlight” was sold at Sotheby’s for a huge amount of money. The price can be considered reasonable - the photograph is more than a century old, and it is an excellent preserved illustration of the history of photography.

9. Untitled #153 (1985)

10. Billy the Kid (1879–80)

The uniqueness of this photograph is that it is the only image of Billy the Kid; no other photographs exist. It was sold in 2011 at the 22nd annual Brian Lebel's Old West Show & Auction in Denver. Collector William Koch bought it for more than $2 million, although the organizers initially did not expect to receive more than $400 thousand for the photo.

The authorship is attributed to Kid's friend Dan Dedrick, but it is no longer possible to determine exactly who took the photo. The photograph was taken using the ambrotype method, using a metal plate, and the image on it is reflected in a mirror.

The most expensive photographs always evoke curiosity and surprise. Some of them need to be seen in galleries, while the popularity of others is completely inexplicable. What makes buyers pay such sums for photos? See for yourself.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the 15 most expensive photographs in the world.

1. “Phantom” (2014) - $6.5 million.

Australian photographer Peter Lik broke all records last December - his black-and-white photograph entitled “Phantom” was bought for $6.5 million. The same private collector, who preferred to remain anonymous, acquired two more photographs that day - “Eternal Moods” and “Illusion”. total amount the purchase amounted to $10 million.

“The purpose of my photographs is to capture the power of nature,” says Leake. "Phantom" is a black and white version of the photo called "Ghost". It depicts Antelope Canyon (Arizona), and the “ghost” is dust swirling in a beam of light.

2. "Rhine II" (1999) - $4.3 million.

German photographer Andreas Gursky is famous for his large-format photographs of architecture and landscapes. In 1999, he took a series of six photographs of the Rhine, the largest and most famous of which was "Rhine II". “For me, this is an allegorical image of the meaning of life,” says the author. To achieve the impression of a desert landscape, he had to remove some elements from the image on the computer: the factory building, pedestrians, cyclists.

A 1.9 x 3.6 m chromogenic acrylic glass print (with a frame that increased the size of the artifact to 2.1 x 3.8 m) was sold at Christie's in 2011 for $4.3 million, buyer's identity unknown.

3. “Untitled No. 96” (1981) - $3.9 million.

The works of Cindy Sherman, famous for her provocative self-portraits, are very popular among collectors. She does not give titles to her photographs, leaving viewers the opportunity to figure out the story depicted themselves. “No. 96” is one of 12 photos in the Centerfold series, commissioned by ArtForum magazine. The heroine in the picture (of course, Sherman herself) is a teenage girl. She holds newspaper clippings of dating advertisements, symbolizing her willingness to leave childhood behind and her desire to find her man.

At one time, “No. 96,” sold at Christie’s for $3.9 million, was the most expensive photograph in the world.

4. “Dead Soldiers Conversation” (1992) - $3.6 million.

Photographer - Jeff Wall

The subtitle explains the story depicted in the photo - "The Vision After the Ambush of the Patrol Soviet army near Mokor, Afghanistan, winter 1986." However, this is not a real-life photograph: Canadian photographer Jeff Wall (whom Andreas Gursky cited as his role model) was not in Afghanistan. The photo was created in a studio, the people in it are actors. "'Conversation of Dead Soldiers' is not a commentary on Afghan war, says the author. - I just wanted to create an image in which dead soldiers talking to each other, I have no idea why.”

In 2012, again at Christie's, the photograph was sold for $3.6 million.

5. “99 cents.” Diptych" (2001) - $3.3 million.

Photographer - Andreas Gursky

One more, or rather two, works by Andreas Gursky. The two photographs that make up the diptych depict the interior of one of the stores where everything is sold for 99 cents.

Long rows filled with colorful boxes of goods, reflected in the glass ceiling, reinforce the feeling of endless consumerism in modern society.

The 2.07 x 3.37 meter print sold for $3.3 million in 2007.

6. “Lake in the Moonlight” (1904) - $2.9 million.

Photographer - Edward Steichen

The photograph, taken in 1904, shows a lake and a forest with moonlight shining through the trees. At the beginning of the 20th century, color photographs were an exceptional rarity, and “Lake in the Moonlight” was hand-colored by the author using the autochrome method (potato starch granules filled with paints were applied to the film different colors). To date, there are only three options for the photo. They all have their own range of shades, since each frame was painted separately.

In 2006, one of them was sold at Sotheby's for $2.9 million.

7. “Untitled No. 153” (1985) - $2.7 million.

Photographer - Cindy Sherman

As Cindy Sherman herself admitted, her main fear is to die. terrible death and photographs such as No. 153 are an attempt to reconcile oneself with it, to prepare for the unthinkable. “You don’t have to be scared and look away,” she says about her photo, “it’s not real, it’s staged, a fairy tale.”

In 2010, the almost two-meter dark photo was sold at auction for $2.7 million.

8. “Billy the Kid” (1879–1880) - $2.3 million

Photographer unknown

A photograph of the famous outlaw Billy the Kid, taken in late XIX century using the ferrotype method, was sold in 2011 to an American collector for $2.3 million. The reason for such a fabulous price is not the special artistic value of the photograph, but its uniqueness - this is the only officially confirmed photograph of Kid.

True, recently the auction house Kagin’s, Inc. announced as authentic another photograph, supposedly showing Billy the Kid playing croquet.

9. “Tobolsk Kremlin” (2009) - $1.7 million.

Photographer - Dmitry Medvedev

A photograph of the Tobolsk Kremlin, taken by Dmitry Medvedev (at that time the President of the Russian Federation), was sold at the “Christmas ABC” charity auction. Usually, paintings painted by famous politicians are put up for sale there. So, in 2009, a drawing by Vladimir Putin brought charitable foundation 37 million rubles.

Due to his busy schedule, Dmitry Medvedev did not have time to paint the picture, but suggested as an alternative a photograph of the Tobolsk landmark taken from a bird's eye view. The photo was bought for 51 million rubles.

10. “Nude” (1925) - $1.6 million.

Photographer - Edward Weston

The works of American photographer Edward Weston are characterized by very clear, sharp images, and a desire for unexpected subjects in which everyone can see something of their own. "Nude" (one of Weston's many photographs of nude models) is no exception. Looking at it, you don’t immediately understand what is depicted. Maybe it's a person, or maybe it's a sculpture or an element of the landscape. The model's androgynous shape further emphasizes the abstract beauty of the photo.

In 2008, at Sotheby's auction, they paid $1.6 million for this work.

11. “Georgia O'Keefe. Hands" (1919) - $1.4 million.

Alfred Stieglitz had two passions in his life - photography and Georgia O'Keeffe. Throughout the 50 years of his career, he fought for society to accept photography as an art - with its own language, motives and genres. He fell in love with the artist O’Keeffe through her works, without even seeing her; He left his family for her. More than 300 of his photographs are dedicated to Georgia; eight of the nine Stieglitz photographs put up for auction depict her.

Photo “Georgia O'Keeffe. Hands” was sold in 2006 for $1.4 million, becoming the photographer’s most expensive work.

12. “Georgia O'Keeffe Nude” (1919) - $1.3 million.

Photographer - Alfred Stieglitz

Once again Alfred Stieglitz and his muse, artist Georgia O'Keeffe. One of a series of works dedicated to her naked body. At Sotheby's auction for black and white image Far from being a Georgia beauty, $1.3 million was paid in 2006.

13. “Untitled (Cowboy)” (1989) - $1.2 million.

Photographer - Richard Prince

Photographer Richard Prince's interest in art began with a job at Time, Inc., where his job was to cut articles from various magazines that the authors needed. In the end, all that was left was illustrations and advertising, page after page of nothing but images. "Cowboy" is a photograph of a photograph, a re-shot piece of advertising that embodies Prince's fascination with American archetypes. Despite its secondary nature, in 2005 “Cowboy” was sold for $1.1 million.

14. “Dovima and the Elephants” (1955) - $1.15 million.

Photographer - Richard Avedon

“His portraits defined the image of American style, beauty and culture for the second half of the 20th century,” they wrote about Richard Avedon. The heroine of this work is top model Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba, better known as Dovima. In the photograph taken at the Winter Circus in Paris in 1955, Dovima is wearing black dress with a huge belt. This outfit is the first evening dress designed for Christian Dior by his new assistant, Yves Saint Laurent. In 2010, the photograph was sold at Christie's for $1.15 million.

15. “Eternal Moods” (2014) - $1.1 million.

Photographer - Peter Lik

The collection is completed by the same photographer who opened it - Peter Lik. Just as “Phantom” is a black and white version of “Ghost,” so “Eternal Moods” is a black and white version of “Eternal Beauty.” The inspiration and location for creating an unusual shot was again Antelope Canyon in Arizona. More than $1.1 million was paid for the photograph by the same private collector who also bought the Phantom.

What do you think of all these photos? Tell us in the comments!

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