Every year there are billions of photographs taken. It’s not just a number, it’s actually the truth, and it is a growing industry. Not only have our cameras gotten way better, we have gotten a million more uses for our pictures with the Internet. You can do pretty much anything with them. The options span from making a few personal family galleries on Facebook to blurbing them out through Flickr. The possibilities are endless as you might understand. However, did you know that one single photograph actually costs more than what 10 of those ordinary houses on your street cost combined? It’s completely true!
When I saw today that the world’s most expensive photograph was sold on an auction, I was quite excited to see what it was, what it pictured and why someone would pay an obscene amount of money to own it. I was more surprised about the whole thing that I thought I would be. I was thinking it would be a picture of some legendary historic event that had never been seen before or of course maybe a never seen before photograph of Marylin Monroe or something like that. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The photograph named “Rhein II” was auctioned off for the mind boggling price of $4.3 million. This price makes it the most expensive photograph ever sold. However, I can’t quite pinpoint what it is with this photograph that makes it so invaluable. Quite honestly, I don’t get it at all. I mean, it’s of a river, and it’s a pretty plain one. Am I missing something? Is there a hidden alien, troll or entity in this picture? Is there a hidden meaning that I can’t seem to decipher from this quite… boring photograph? I guess art really is in the eye of the beholder. Have a look at it and see if you can make more sense of it… (Photographer: Andreas Gursky)
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