18 Most Expensive Photographs

There are collectors of all kinds all around the world that love fine pieces of art. It is not unusual at all to see paintings sold of people such as Picasso, Monet or Van Gogh sold for tens of millions of dollars at auction. What many people may not realize is that photographs, another fine art, can reap just as much from collectors, particularly those that are among the rarest and most valuable. Many of the most special photographs found in the world today can be worth millions of dollars as well. Here is a list of the most expensive photographs in the world today.
18. Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico

This is photograph taken by world-famous photographer Ansel Adams. Taken in November of 1941, the picture depicts a black and white photo of a beautiful moon rising over Hernandez in the Chama River valley and is one of Adams most famous, with many print copies created and sold. The original photograph sold at auction in 2006 for $609,600.

17. Andy Warhol

Taken by renowned photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, famous for taking many pictures in the course of his life, this black and white portrait of famous artist Andy Warhol was taken in the 1980s and is just one of several Mapplethorpe took of Warhol that is well-noted with Warhol’s famous, rather stark gaze into the camera. This particular photo was sold at auction for $643,200.

16. Joueur d’Orgue

A photo from Eugene Atget, a photographer in France in the 1800s that has gained fame for the photos he took of the old Paris areas just before they began to disappear. This picture has become his most famous, depicting a street organist in Paris, at the time a professions that was steadily disappearing from Paris. Sold at auction in 2010, the photo was sold for $686,500.

15. Untangling

A very unique photo from contemporary photographer Jeff Wall, this photo dates to 1994 and shows a worker trying to work his way through massive knots of rope in a typical workshop, showing more than just a struggle with rope but with life itself. Wall’s most famous photograph, it was sold for $780,000 in 2006.

14. Nautilus

A simple photo of a single nautilus sea shell standing on its end and taken in black and white, this picture from Edward Weston is his most famous photograph and one of the most famous ever made. Many experts consider it the hallmark of the movement of modernism in photography. The picture was sold in 2010 for $1,082,500.

13. Dovima with elephants

A black and white photo of model Dovima pictured in a floor-length black gown with elephants changed next to her is a stark contrast of beauty and beast and often referred to as one of the photos that changed the art and the world. Taken by famous photographer Richard Avedon in 1955, the photo was sold at auction in 2010 for $1,151,976.

12. Untitled (Cowboy)

A photo taken by Richard Prince in 1989, is a picture of a cowboy riding off alone, a depiction of the profession itself as the cowboy begins to fade away. Prince’s picture is a photographic copy of an advertisement, something he is known for, and sold in 2005 for $1,248,000.

11. Georgia O’Keefe Nude

Taken by photographer Alfred Stieglitz and one of many he took of famous artist Georgia O’Keefe, who happened to be his wife, the photo is a black and white nude image of O’Keefe’s body from the neck down. This is one of several images of O’Keefe that was sold from Stieglitz’ collection in 2006 and it sold for $1,360,000.

10. Georgia O’Keefe (Hands)

The second entry on this list from Alfred Stieglitz that was part of his collection of images he had taken of his wife, painter Georgia O’Keefe. This photo, a black and white simply of the artist’s hands taken in 1919, was also sold in 2006, but for a higher amount of $1,470,000. All of the most expensive photos from Stieglitz are those that he took of O’Keefe.

9. Nude

Taken in 1925 by artist Edward Weston, who is known primarily for his straight photography, was taken during what is considered his Mexican period as he broke from his standards. The model is unknown; the photo can actually be unrecognizable as a nude because of its form. Sold at auction in 2008, the black and white photo garnered $1,609,000.

8. Tobolsk Kremlin

Unique because of what it is and who it was taken by, this photo of an aerial view of a fortress in the Siberian town of Tobolsk was taken by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. The area was one of the final homes of the last czar of Russia before the 1917 Revolution. Medvedev, an avid photographer, took the picture and it was sold at a charity auction for $1,750,000.

7. Billy the Kid

Taken by an unknown photographer in either 1879 or 1880, this tintype photo is often considered one of the rarest and most valuable of any American Western collectible. It depicts a portrait of the famous outlaw in New Mexico and was likely taken by a simple, traveling photographer in the area that day. Passed on through family members of a friend of the outlaw until they decided to sell it in 2011, the picture fetched $2,300,000 at auction.

6. Untitled #153

This is a photograph taken by Cindy Sherman, and American artist, back in 1985. The photo can be viewed as disturbing, horrific, thought-provoking or morbid, it is a picture of the artist herself laid out as a corpse splattered with mud. The picture was sold in 2010 for $2,700,000.

5. The Pond-Moonlight

From artist Edward Steichen, this photo from 1904 of a Mamaroneck, New York forest shot across a pond in the moonlight, makes use of a manual process where light sensitive gums were applied to the photo to create more than one color on the final print. The picture sold at auction in 2006 for $2,928,000.

4. 99 Cent II Diptychon

From famous artist Andreas Gursky, the photo shows the crowded area of an interior of a supermarket with aisles depicting all kinds of products and a wide array of colors. It is a work in two parts known as a diptych and was sold in 2007 for $3,346,456.

3. Dead Troops Talk (A Vision after an ambush of a Red Army patrol, near Moqor, Afghanistan, winter 1986)

Another from famous Canadian artist Jeff Wall, this staged photograph is a hallucination scene of soldiers recently killed in an ambush and discussing the events, death and afterlife. Sold at auction in 2012, this photo from Wall went for $3,666,500.

2. Untitled #96

Also from artist Cindy Sherman, #96 was shot in 1981 and was part of the artist’s Centerfolds series. It depicts a girl, perhaps of teenage years, that looks innocent and naïve while all the while clutching an advertisement for a singles ad from the newspaper. The photo broke records in 2011 with a price of $3,890,500.

1. Rhein II

Also from Andreas Gursky, this photo simply depicts the Rhine River as it flows between two green fields on an overcast day. Gursky digitally removed everything else from the picture to provide a modern image of the river. The photo is the most expensive photo currently and was sold at auction for $4,338,500 in 2011.