$4.3M for picture of river and grass?

OK, I'm having a hard time figuring out why this picture is the most expensive photograph ever auctioned to date???

http://news.yahoo.com/record-photo-sold-auction-set-nyc-182745446.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rhein_II.jpg

Maybe you need to see it in person, but somehow I doubt it.

 

Somebody sure likes corduroy.

 

I don't get it... it's so dull.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

I've never understood expensive photographs, besides the rarity of some of the historical ones I just don't get it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_photographs

 

Couldn't you just reprint some of these expensive ones many thousands of times and make the original practically worthless? Everyone could have one - and it'd be absolutely identical, unlike a reproduction of a painting.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

It's no Ansel Adams.

More like point a camera out of the car's window, and snap on a dreary day. This photo should sell for... ..... 20$ to somebody who is unintelligent

 

I saw that on Yahoo and wondered the same thing. I would throw the obligatory "waste of money" comment, but it'd be sort of hypocritical. Whoever bought that photo could look at us and say "Psh...$250,000 for a car?? C'mon...it's just a car!"

-G.B.

 

that's (in addition to pre-dating photography) why paintings sell for 100+ million as oppose to a record setter being 4 mill

limited edition prints are slightly gimmicky and the original negatives are of no PURE use to a buyer in my opinion.

I'm a big fan of photography and in my bedroom I have around 100 of my fave photographs (none taken by me) on a wall which I enjoy looking at in bed, all of these are simply glossy prints!

 

With the photoshop skills of some of the members here on the Fchat we must have pictures worth $3.5 BILLION floating around at home Atleast measured up to tha Rhine pic.

Here is a pic I took of the same river (Rhine) back in 2009. Must be worth $20 million or so if I edit out the crane
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His Shanghai 2000 is pretty cool though. When you scroll on the computer it kinda moves

Still, it's something all of us could do.

 

If you posted that Rhine picture (the one auctioned, not Brian's beautiful one! in a photography forum, you'd get slashed. Yes, the composition is somewhat nice in its clear geometry, but that's it.

 

Hose many F Cars could you have got with that coin?

 

If I was this person, I would be buying at least a Bugatti...

 

i did it for you. how about we split the $20M, 50-50!
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I left a tree in so we can split it
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As to why: Either through Gurky's own efforts or through those associated with him, a cult of personality has been created. Others have been successful at this, Peter Lik comes to mind. Through Lik's expert self-promotion one of his photos has supposedly sold for one million dollars. People regularly walk in to his stores and willingly pay exorbitant prices. Gurky has done this through higher level art connections and galleries/auctions.
Nice work if you can get it.
One of Gurky's more interesting photos:
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Now that one's pretty cool.

-G.B.

 

Here is a slightly different one:

http://forums.subdriven.com/showthread.php?4742421

There are many from this F1 series.

 

How about putting some drowning politician in the picture?