Arthur Sasse, $74.324
On Einstein’s 72nd birthday in 1951, photographer Arthur Sasse was trying to persuade him to smile for the camera, but having smiled for photographers many times that day, Einstein stuck out his tongue instead. This photo became one of the most popular photos ever taken of Einstein and it is well recognized in popular culture, often used in merchandise depicting Einstein in a lighthearted sense. On June 19, 2009, the photograph was sold at auction for $74,324, a record for an Einstein picture.


Andreas Gursky, $3.346.456
The artwork 99 Cent II Diptychon from 2001 is a two part photograph made by Andreas Gursky probably in 1999, as the work is sometimes called "99 cent.1999". The work became famous as being the most expensive photograph in the world when it was auctioned at Sotheby’s on February 7 in 2007 for a price of US$3.34 million. Another auction in New York in May 2006 fetched $2.25 million for a second print, and a third print sold for $2.48 million in November 2006 at a New York gallery. These would be the third and fourth-most costly photographs sold, as of 2008.


Edward Steichen, $2.900.000
In February 2006, a copy of Steichen’s early pictorialist photograph, The Pond-Moonlight (1904), sold for what was then the highest price ever paid for a photograph at auction, U.S. $2.9 million. Steichen took the photograph in Mamaroneck, New York near the home of his friend, art critic Charles Caffin. The photo features a wooded area and pond, with moonlight appearing between the trees and reflecting on the pond. The print appears to be a color photograph.


Edward Weston, $1.609.000
Highlighting the sale on Sotheby’s in April was Edward Weston’s Nude, from 1925, which was the object of a heated battle between two bidders, finally selling, to applause, to Peter MacGill of the Pace-MacGill Gallery for $1,609,000, far above its high estimate and setting a new record for the artist at auction. So far this is the most expensive photograph of Edward Weston.


Alfred Stieglitz, $1.472.000
For the picture of his second wife’s hands Alfred Stieglitz could get $1.472.000 on February 2006, Sotheby’s New York auction.


Richard Prince, $1.248.000
This is most seen in his series known as the Cowboys, produced from 1980 to 1992. Prince’s most famous group of “rephotographs,” as his style became known, were taken from Marlboro Cigarette advertisements, images of the Marlboro Man, the ideal figurine of masculinity, the real American man.


Gustave Le Gray, $838.000
In October 1999, Sotheby’s sold a Le Gray albumen print "Beech Tree, Fontainebleau " for £419,500, which was a world record for most expensive single photograph ever sold at auction, to an anonymous buyer. Later that day at the same auction, however, an albumen print of "Grande Vague, Sète" ("The Big Wave at Sète," "The Great Wave, Sète") also by Le Gray was sold for a new world record price of £507,500 or $840,370 to "the same anonymous buyer" who was later revealed to be Sheik Saud Al-Thani of Qatar. The record stood until May 2003 when Al-Thani purchased a daguerreotype by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey for £565,250 or $922,488.


Robert Mapplethorpe, $643.000
In 2006, a Mapplethorpe print of Andy Warhol was auctioned for $643,200, making it the 6th most expensive photograph ever sold. Suppose, the buyer should adore Andy Warhol or his works.


Ansel Adams, $609.000
Ansel Adams’ riveting Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico is perhaps the best known and most sought after photograph in the field of fine-art photography. Last October, Chrities estimated the value of one at auction to be $50,000.00 to $70,000.00. Last year Sotheby’s sold a 20×24 inch Moonrise for $115,000.00, but it was printed in 1957. One unknown buyer even stated photography value of $609.000.