Snapshot in a million: the most expensive shots in the history of photography

While most of us are preoccupied with how our selfies turn out and enjoy double-digit likes on social media, photographers sell images for a price comparable to the cost of Renaissance masterpieces. These snapshots, like millions of others, capture a specific place at a specific moment in time, but they do it in a way that no one has ever done before. How else can one explain the mind-boggling sums that collectors are willing to pay for exclusive prints of these frames, as, for example, what happened to the most expensive photograph in history - "Phantom" by Peter Lik, sold for six and a half million dollars? Take a look at these pictures that are worth a fortune and redefine your outlook on life and on the pictures from your phone camera.

(Total 15 photos)

Source: trendymen.ru

1. Phantom, 1999

Author: Peter Lik. Price: $6,500,000

This photo is the most expensive in the world at the moment. The frame shows a beam of light that looks like a ghostly figure. The picture was taken by a photographer in one of the caves in Antelope Canyon, Arizona.

2. Rhine II, 1999

Author: Andreas Gursky. Price: $4,338,500

Andreas Gursky is a well-known German photo artist, who has many photographs sold for impressive sums. In 1999, he took the photo "Rhine II", which shows the river Rhine between two dams under a gloomy rainy sky. In total, Gursky took six shots of the Rhine, and "Rhine II" is the largest photograph in the series. The most interesting thing is that the author retouched the photo in Photoshop - the composition was spoiled by the buildings of the power plant and a passerby with a dog. The picture was sold at Christie's auction for $4,338,500 in 2011 - the Monica Spruit Gallery in Cologne became the buyer, and then an unknown collector bought the photo.

3. Untitled #96, 1981

Author: Cindy Sherman. Price: $3,890,500

American photo artist Cindy Sherman works in the technique of staged photographs. Sherman calls himself a performance artist and categorically refuses to acknowledge himself as a photographer. One of the most famous and expensive works of the artist is photograph No. 96, taken in 1981. The picture shows a red-haired girl with freckles in bright orange clothes. As Sherman herself explained, the photograph has a deep meaning - a teenage girl, both seductive and innocent, holds a piece of newspaper with dating ads in her hand, which means that while the fragile female essence is looking for a way to break out. The picture was purchased at a Christie's auction in 2011 by an unknown collector.

4. Dead Warriors Speak, 1992

Author: Jeff Wall. Price: $3,666,500

"Dead Warriors Speak" is actually a photo collage, not a photograph. It depicts an ambush of Red Army soldiers during the Afghan war in 1986. Despite the realism, this is a staged photo: all the people in the picture are guest actors. When working on it, Wall used makeup and costumes, and the picture itself was taken in a photo studio and later processed on a computer.

5. 99 cents II, diptych 2001

Author: Andreas Gursky. Price: $3,346,456

The “Rhine II” shot, which we have already talked about, is not the only extremely expensive photograph of Andreas Gursky. The photograph, which went under the hammer in 2007 for $3,346,456, shows a scene from the life of a 99-cent store. The silence, the obvious perfectionism in the layout of goods and the atmosphere of consumption made the picture one of the most expensive in history.

6. Chicago Board of Trade III. 1999–2009

Author: Andreas Gursky. Price: $2,355,597

The main distinguishing feature of Andreas Gursky's work is the extreme detailing of photographs with a gigantic print size. Gursky's Chicago Board of Trade III, printed on 185 x 240 cm canvas, was purchased in 2013. It captures the everyday life of the Chicago Board of Trade. When you zoom in, you can see each character, their work supplies, computer monitors, and other details.

7. Pond by moonlight, 1904

Author: Edward Steichen. Price: $2,928,000

The uniqueness of Edward Steichen's work is not due to the depth of meaning, but to the fact that "Pond by Moonlight" is one of the first color photographs in history.

8. Untitled #153, 1985

Author: Cindy Sherman. Price: $2,700,000

Another expensive photo of Cindy Sherman, more like a still from a Hitchcock movie. Untitled #153 was bought in 2010 for a record $2,700,000.

9. Billy the Kid (Fort Sumner, New Mexico), 1879-80

Author unknown. Price: $2,300,000

The only surviving portrait of Billy the Kid was sold a few years ago for more than two million dollars, to a collector who preferred to remain anonymous.

10. Tobolsk Kremlin, 2009

Author: Dmitry Medvedev. Price: $1,750,000

In the past, the President of the Russian Federation, and now the photographer Dmitry Medvedev took pictures of the Tobolsk Kremlin during a sightseeing flight. The resulting photo was bought by an unknown collector at the Christmas Alphabet charity auction for 51 million rubles. Due to the unprecedented artistic value, a high-resolution photo copy was not found on the network.

11. Nude training, 1925

Author: Edward Weston. Price: $1,609,000

In 2008, an erotic work by Edward Weston dating back to 1925 went under the hammer. The photograph captures the perfect body of Tina Modotti, the photographer's lover and assistant.

12. Georgia O'Keeffe, 1919

Author: Alfred Stiglitz. Price: $1,470,000

Alfred Stieglitz's expressive 1919 photograph of artist Georgia O'Keeffe's hands was sold in February 2006 at Sotheby's in New York for an impressive $1.5 million.

13. Cowboy, 2001-2002

Author: Richard Prince. Price: $3,401,000

The photograph was created specifically for an advertising campaign for Marlboro cigarettes and was sold in 2007 at Christie's auction.

14. Dovima and elephants, 1955

Author: Richard Avedon. Price: $1,151,976

For the photo "Dovima and Elephants", made specifically for one of the exhibitions of Richard Avedon, the buyer paid a record amount of $ 1,151,976 at Christie's auction in 2010.

15. One, 2000

Author: Peter Lik. Price: $1,000,000

The picture was taken on the Androscoggin River in the US state of New Hampshire. It was bought by a private collector who wished to remain anonymous. According to the photographer, he took only one frame and printed only one photo from it, which may partly explain its high price. Lik's website states that the printed image will remain the only one.