--- title: Most Expensive Photo: Peter Lik Phantom Sells For 6.5 Million description: Photographer Peter Lik has sold a print for a cool $6.5 million canonical: https://time.com/3628565/most-expensive-photo-peter-lik/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-10T20:29:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:48:15.936Z og:title: This Is Officially the Most Expensive Photo Ever og:description: Photographer Peter Lik has sold a print for a cool $6.5 million og:url: https://time.com/3628565/most-expensive-photo-peter-lik/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3da7415acf080876/69876e168e0601e9ce459276/lik-usa-peter-liks-phantom.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Peter Lik's Phantom photo was sold for an unprecedented $6.5 million and is the most expensive photograph in history. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Is Officially the Most Expensive Photo Ever twitter:description: Photographer Peter Lik has sold a print for a cool $6.5 million twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3da7415acf080876/69876e168e0601e9ce459276/lik-usa-peter-liks-phantom.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is Officially the Most Expensive Photo Ever by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Dec 10, 2014 8:29 PM UTC  Peter Lik's Phantom photo was sold for an unprecedented $6.5 million and is the most expensive photograph in history. Peter Lik's Phantom photo was sold for an unprecedented $6.5 million and is the most expensive photograph in history.Peter Lik—PRNewsFoto by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Dec 10, 2014 8:29 PM UTC Australian landscaper photographer Peter Lik has set a new world record after a private unnamed collector purchased one of his photos for[ an unprecedented $6.5 million](http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/legendary-photographer-peter-lik-shatters-world-record-with-65-million-sale-of-phantom-300006716.html). The black-and-white image, called “Phantom,” was taken in Arizona’s Antelope Canyon, _the Guardian_ [reports](http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/dec/10/most-expensive-photograph-ever-hackneyed-tasteless). The record for most expensive photo ever sold was previously held by Andreas Gursky’s “Rhein II.” In 2011, it [sold](http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2011/11/most-expensive-photo-world/44772/) for $4.3 million. ### The Most Beautiful Wildfire Photos You'll Ever See  The Meadow Fire burns overnight near Half Dome in Yosemite National Park early Monday September 8, 2014\. As of Wednesday the fire had burned over 4,500 acres and was 10% contained. Stuart Palley  The Meadow Fire burns at dawn near Half Dome in Yosemite National Park early Monday September 8, 2014\. As of Wednesday the fire had burned over 4,500 acres and was 10% contained. Stuart Palley  The Meadow Fire burns overnight near Half Dome in Yosemite National Park early Monday September 8, 2014\. As of Wednesday the fire had burned over 4,500 acres and was 10% contained. Stuart Palley  The Meadow Fire burns overnight near Half Dome in Yosemite National Park early Monday September 8, 2014\. As of Wednesday the fire had burned over 4,500 acres and was 10% contained. Stuart Palley  The Meadow Fire burns at dawn near Half Dome in Yosemite National Park early Monday September 8, 2014\. As of Wednesday the fire had burned over 4,500 acres and was 10% contained. Stuart Palley  The Meadow Fire burns at dawn near Half Dome in Yosemite National Park early Monday September 8, 2014 as rain moves in from the south. As of Wednesday the fire had burned over 4,500 acres and was 10% contained. Stuart Palley  The Meadow Fire burns overnight near Half Dome in Yosemite National Park early Monday September 8, 2014\. As of Wednesday the fire had burned over 4,500 acres and was 10% contained. Stuart Palley  The Meadow Fire burns at dawn near Half Dome in Yosemite National Park early Monday September 8, 2014\. As of Wednesday the fire had burned over 4,500 acres and was 10% contained. 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Stuart Palley _Read next:_ [_TIME Picks the Top 10 Photos of 2014_](http://time.com/3572139/time-top-10-photos-2014/?xid=time%5Freadnext) Most Expensive Photo: Peter Lik Phantom Sells For 6.5 Million ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3628565/most-expensive-photo-peter-lik/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3628565/most-expensive-photo-peter-lik/"},"headline":"This Is Officially the Most Expensive Photo Ever","datePublished":"2014-12-10T20:29:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:48:15.936Z","description":"Photographer Peter Lik has sold a print for a cool $6.5 million","url":"https://time.com/3628565/most-expensive-photo-peter-lik/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Art","photography"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3da7415acf080876/69876e168e0601e9ce459276/lik-usa-peter-liks-phantom.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3da7415acf080876/69876e168e0601e9ce459276/lik-usa-peter-liks-phantom.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Peter Lik's Phantom photo was sold for an unprecedented $6.5 million and is the most expensive photograph in history.","caption":"Peter Lik's Phantom photo was sold for an unprecedented $6.5 million and is the most expensive photograph in history.","creditText":"Peter Lik—PRNewsFoto","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3628565/most-expensive-photo-peter-lik/","name":"This Is Officially the Most Expensive Photo Ever"}}]}] ```