Photo sold For $1 Million Dollars

Anonymous Art Collector Purchases Peter Lik's
New England River Photo "One", For $1 Million Dollars

Lik said: "I will never forget this morning for the rest of my life.
It was calm, and the scent of the fall forest filled my lungs.
The mist cleared, and a magical reflection in the river briefly appeared White birch trees,
black trunks, a kaleidoscope of foliage combining to reveal an illusion of three dimensions.
I pressed the shutter - once - and then the scene vanished with the morning breeze,
never to be seen again."

Momentum: The 1 Million Dollar Shot

...another investment bubble?

No while I can agree that from an Abstract point of view that image does look good, I cannot see the point of it warranting a price of 1 Million $.
The cost of "producing the image" is possibly a few hundred dollars, provided he had to wait for the shot.
Now yes, it takes skill and creativity to shoot that image - but once it exists, technically anybody can copy the idea - and unless you do a lot of skilful post processing there is little to keep an amateur from shooting the same.

I suppose as the photographer he's enjoying himself right now.

All I can do at this is shake my head - yes, great work can be rewarded with large amounts of money, but this I can only label as gross.

I'm hoping to just sell one, at half that price. That'd work for me.

I live in MA. Does anyone know the exact location in NH. I guess I can google, but I am to lazy right now.

The photographer is already famous for other works. He isn't like most of us here....

TooManyShots wrote in post #11635756
The photographer is already famous for other works. He isn't like most of us here....

Speak for yourself!

TooManyShots wrote in post #11635756
The photographer is already famous for other works. He isn't like most of us here....

That still doesn't warrant such a price.

I am certain at some point someone will wake up and find that he's sunk 1 Million Dollars into something that has turned into a worthless digital file.
Or at best is worth a few thousand as a printed image.

DetlevCM wrote in post #11637878
That still doesn't warrant such a price.

I am certain at some point someone will wake up and find that he's sunk 1 Million Dollars into something that has turned into a worthless digital file.
Or at best is worth a few thousand as a printed image.

I think you need to study up on peter lik my friend. He dabbles in digital but is mostly a large format film guy. This guy spent a 1 million dollars just on his processing/printing lab. He uses really expensive silver prints, and custom hand made frames. He will rent a helicopter to drop his ass off to some remote part of the world and wait for the perfect moment.. if it doesnt happen that day ( which he preplans in advance) he tries another time. Theres alot more to him then I bought a dslr and I wanna take pics. He is claimed to be the richest photographer in world... has galleries in the prime major cities and is estimated to be worth 250 million dollars. I dont think you would get this successful without having great talent and a fantastic eye. I would say he is a modern day ansel adams.

J_TULLAR wrote in post #11638024
I think you need to study up on peter lik my friend. He dabbles in digital but is mostly a large format film guy. This guy spent a 1 million dollars just on his processing/printing lab. He uses really expensive silver prints, and custom hand made frames. He will rent a helicopter to drop his ass off to some remote part of the world and wait for the perfect moment.. if it doesnt happen that day ( which he preplans in advance) he tries another time. Theres alot more to him then I bought a dslr and I wanna take pics. He is claimed to be the richest photographer in world... has galleries in the prime major cities and is estimated to be worth 250 million dollars. I dont think you would get this successful without having great talent and a fantastic eye. I would say he is a modern day ansel adams.

I won't deny he is talented - or that his work is good.
It's just that photographs, no matter how good you are, are in the end not that difficult to reproduce.
An old painting cannot be replaced - mainly due to it's age - and rarity makes them valuable. Also the fact that you generally cannot create an exact copy. (even a perfect forgery would not have the same brush strokes - you'd possibly need to examine an original and a copy side by side - but then you'll notice that each brush will have left an every so slightly different pattern).

With Photography you do not get this distinction. Yes, being at the right spot in the right time can give you an image better than others taken in the same spot - but else, everything is generally reproducible.

That's why paying 1 Million for effectively "some bits" is to me just the madness of modern "investments". If it were 100.000$ I'd still think it's a lot, but it would make much more sense.

People just don't know what to do with their money. Great picture, but that's going overboard.

DetlevCM wrote in post #11638056
I won't deny he is talented - or that his work is good.
It's just that photographs, no matter how good you are, are in the end not that difficult to reproduce.
An old painting cannot be replaced - mainly due to it's age - and rarity makes them valuable. Also the fact that you generally cannot create an exact copy. (even a perfect forgery would not have the same brush strokes - you'd possibly need to examine an original and a copy side by side - but then you'll notice that each brush will have left an every so slightly different pattern).

With Photography you do not get this distinction. Yes, being at the right spot in the right time can give you an image better than others taken in the same spot - but else, everything is generally reproducible.

That's why paying 1 Million for effectively "some bits" is to me just the madness of modern "investments". If it were 100.000$ I'd still think it's a lot, but it would make much more sense.

I disagree, this was a moment in time lost forever. You will never get the same photograph ever again. I challenge you to try. I really dont understand people who are into photography that do not get things like this ... boggles my mind.

Good job for Peter Lik.

Don't be a hater.

Definitely great for the photographer to be able to make this kind of cash for his work, no doubt about it.

Peter Lik, is a wicked photographer! He actually just got a deal to do a TV series.

As for the shot in question, I feel he has much better work. J_TULLAR is right in that you will never get this shot again. But similar images of equal quality....yes.

Theres a birch forest, at the other end of the province, that has a small river or large stream running next to it. I have seen many photographers from the area pull very similar images out of that place.

Am I saying it's not a good photo? No. I think it's great, not really my style but to each there own.
Do I feel that 1 million dollars is a bit much for such a photo? Yes. Do I understand that different art is appreciated from different people? Yes.

I just think it's an absurd amount of money to pay for a photo (There are few things in this world that I would pay $1 Million for) . But all the more power to Mr. Lik.

Johnsoir wrote in post #11638880
Peter Lik, is a wicked photographer! He actually just got a deal to do a TV series.

As for the shot in question, I feel he has much better work. J_TULLAR is right in that you will never get this shot again. But similar images of equal quality....yes.

Theres a birch forest, at the other end of the province, that has a small river or large stream running next to it. I have seen many photographers from the area pull very similar images out of that place.

Am I saying it's not a good photo? No. I think it's great, not really my style but to each there own.
Do I feel that 1 million dollars is a bit much for such a photo? Yes. Do I understand that different art is appreciated from different people? Yes.

I just think it's an absurd amount of money to pay for a photo (There are few things in this world that I would pay $1 Million for) . But all the more power to Mr. Lik.

well when one has billions of dollars a mil is a drop in the bucket lol.