Australian landscape photographer Peter Lik has taken the crown for most expensive photo ever sold. “Phantom,” the picture shown above, was sold to a private collector for a staggering $6.5 million. The record was previously held by Andreas Gursky’s “Rhein II”, which sold for $4.3 million back in 2011.

“Phantom” was captured at Arizona’s Antelope Canyon, a slot canyon that’s popular among landscape photographers, and shows a beam of light resembling a “ghostlike figure” (hence the name). It’s a black-and-white version of a photograph that has also been printed in color with the title, “Ghost.”

Lik also announced that the same buyer purchased two other photographs for $2.4 million and $1.1 million (“Illusion” and “Eternal Moods,” respectively), giving Lik four photos in the list of 20 most expensive photos of all time (he previously sold a separate photo for $1 million back in 2011).

^ madness . .

^ madness . .

So it maybe. If BS was music we'd 'ave a brass band and all that. Keep shootin'. We might get lucky.

^ madness . .

We might get lucky.

only if we can find a similar deluded fool who's prepared enough to pay an absurd inflated price for one of our snapshots . . . http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/dec/10/most-expensive-photograph-ever-hackneyed-tasteless

^ madness . .

We might get lucky.

only if we can find a similar deluded fool who's prepared enough to pay an absurd inflated price for one of our snapshots . . . http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/dec/10/most-expensive-photograph-ever-hackneyed-tasteless

I find the author of that article a bit full of himself. Maybe correct for that particular piece but as one commenter pointed out, he contradicts himself in his own articles.

From the above linked article:

Photography is not an art. It is a technology. We have no excuse to ignore this obvious fact in the age of digital cameras, when the most beguiling high-definition images and effects are available to millions. My iPad can take panoramic views that are gorgeous to look at. Does that make me an artist? No, it just makes my tablet one hell of a device.

However here from the same author:

Photography is the art of our time

The old masters painted the drama of life and death. Today photography captures the human condition – better than any other artistic medium of our age

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2013/jan/10/photography-art-of-our-time

^ madness . .

We might get lucky.

only if we can find a similar deluded fool who's prepared enough to pay an absurd inflated price for one of our snapshots . . . http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/dec/10/most-expensive-photograph-ever-hackneyed-tasteless

Maybe correct for that particular piece but as one commenter pointed out

the rest is swings and roundabouts in the whirlpool of opinion . . (for me, it is an art . . just not that one and the $ stunt around it)

^ madness . .

We might get lucky.

only if we can find a similar deluded fool who's prepared enough to pay an absurd inflated price for one of our snapshots . . . http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/dec/10/most-expensive-photograph-ever-hackneyed-tasteless

Start lookin'.

^ madness . .

We might get lucky.

only if we can find a similar deluded fool who's prepared enough to pay an absurd inflated price for one of our snapshots . . . http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/dec/10/most-expensive-photograph-ever-hackneyed-tasteless

Start lookin'.

that's easier done than said.

^^Well get on with it!

^ sorry i mean't it the other way around . . . i' give all my work away for free !

After posting the thread I later read another article where I got the original article from which was Matt Grangers, Petapixel site.

http://petapixel.com/2014/12/10/expensive-photo-world-best-marketing-stunt/

This Lik guy is allegedly trying to publicise himself maybe for more viewers to his site/album.

Now you have mentioned Antelope Canyon, the best shots I have seen of that are from Seattle based photographer John Greengo.

I cant seem to find the images on his site though.

I printed off Liks photo and its here 360 DPI on my wall, It saved me a lot of money, I might throw some udder milk at it at the thought of the money I have saved.

I'm thankfull as I can now spend that $6.5 million on a nice house in the LOS.

Here ?

http://www.johngreengo.com/images_southwest.html

It's a nice pic....however...I'd rather spend 6.5 million on other things instead of a nice pic.

And seriously...to me that all Lik's photo is...nice & nothing more. The buyer must be a

nut case.

Does the buyer (expect to) get exclusive rights to the photo. I ask because I can't see what is to stop a photographer printing off a few more and selling them too. Buying an old master, one gets the unique product (except for Sexton Blakes), but with a photo, any Tom Dick or Harr®y could get a copy.

$6.5 mill...... Hmm anyone want a photo of a sunset what I took??

^^^ Rob...for 6.5 million bucks I would hope the buyer received all the rights to the photo

and that any copies of the pic he just bought were erased from any form of storage

medium permanently...just to protect that 6.5 mil investment. Because...as you stated,

anybody could also get a copy. In fact...just by downloading the image posted and

applying a bit of PP...one could get a reasonably good copy....hmmmmmmmm.

In the digital age, buying photos is a very risky proposition, even with all the legal paperwork anyone can invent.

Buying one for this sort of money just defies logic, but good luck to Mr Lik <says Rob, green with envy>

The man himself...Peter Lik...

Wiki has a good writeup on him & his website is

pretty cool too. Y'all do the Google searchs...

I guess it's the nature of people who wish to own something original (and while owning it, increase the value for the next buyer).

We all have seen images of the Mona Lisa. There must be hundreds or even thousands of painted copies of the painting, of which we could not make the difference if it was an original or a copy.

In general scheme, there is nothing really special about that painting, except it was painted by Leonardo De Vinci and it became a Grumpy Cat (worth of USD80M), of it's time.

Wasn't the previous most expensive photo ever sold a photo of supermarket?

I guess his "ship" came in!

most of us are still waiting for a one million dollar shot!

My boat is still waiting on the shore and tied up !

Both shots taken off Samui the other day....

I will not argue with Mr. Lik's ability as a photographer...he is good at what he does, very good.

Regarding the buyer...wasn't it W. C. Fields who said: "There's a sucker born every minute."?

NB...edit for mis-spelling of a single word...argue. Obesedigititis is what I suffer from, comes &

goes at times.

It coulda been worse, SJ

Mr Lik need lose no sleep whatsoever over potential competitors.....

actually this is more like mine, Rob .... all washed up!

Thanks to the really nice folks at PetaPixel (my favourite photo website...plug!) it appears

I am not the only one questioning this value& validity of...Mr. Lik's 6.5 Million dollar pic...

hey.. that last bit almost rhymed!

http://petapixel.com/2014/12/13/just-peter-liks-record-breaking-photo-sale-may-constitute-torture/