Most Expensive Photographs

Andreas Gursky, 99 Cent II Diptychon (2001), $3,346,456, February, 2007, Sotheby's London auction.

Andreas Gursky, Chicago Board of Trade II, 1999, C-print mounted to plexiglass in artist's frame 73 x 95 inches

Andreas Gursky, Rhein II, 1999, C-print mounted to plexiglass in artist's frame, 81 x 140 inches


Andreas Gursky, Shanghai, 2000, C-print mounted to plexiglass, 119 x 81 inches

Edward Steichen, The Pond-Moonlight (1904), $2,928,000, February 2006, Sotheby's New York auction.


Edward Steichen, photographed by
Fred Holland Day
Birth name Eduard Jean Steichen
Born March 27, 1879
Bivange, Luxembourg
Died March 25, 1973 (aged 93)
West Redding, Connecticut
Nationality American
Field Painting, Photography


Steichen's The Pond-Moonlight
The Flatiron Building in a photograph of 1904, taken by Steichen.



Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy) (1989)[3], $1,248,000, November 2005, Christie's New York auction.


Richard Prince exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum, New York City.


Gustave Le Gray, The Great Wave, Sete (1857) $838,000, 1999.


Gustave Le Gray
Brick in the moonlight, marine by Gustave Le Gray
The Great Wave, Sète by Le Gray

Robert Mapplethorpe, Andy Warhol (1987) $643,200, 2006.




The cover of Patti Smith's first album, Horses, featured a photo taken by Robert Mapplethorpe.


Ansel Adams, Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico (1948)[8] $609,600, Sotheby's New York auction, 2006.


Ansel Adams at Big Sur, 1980.
Close-up of leaves In Glacier National Park (1942)


Farm workers at Manzanar War Relocation Center with Mt. Williamson in the background.

The Tetons and the Snake River (1942)

a Arbus' Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, New York City (1962)