Maybe you haven’t heard of Peter Lik, but you have surely heard of the sale of one of his photographs, “Phantom”, for $6.5 million. That makes it the most expensive photograph ever sold to date.
To jog your memory, here is what a Google search came up with, although the colors seems to be a bit weird…or maybe not:
Very nice that the dust someone threw in the air for the shot managed to form the shape of a “phantom”–or was there some Photoshop help there? No matter…
Peter Lik’s work is typically of that very saturated, landscape school I discussed in my February 5, 2015 blog post, On Super-Saturated Landscape Images. The difference is his marketing genius. He has managed to parlay his work, and his system of progressive pricing of limited editions, into a multi-million dollar business centered in Las Vegas. Imagine selling well over a million dollars worth of your prints each week!
Holy Suffering Sotheby’s, Batman!
There seems to be some question, though, if there might not be sort of a subtle psychological manipulation of client expectations in the Lik Gallery business model. Hmmm…the plot thickens…
To read a bit more about Peter Lik, his ingenious business model, and the famous “Phantom” photograph, check out this February 21, 2015, New York Times article, Peter Lik’s Recipe for Success: Sell Prints. Print Money. This is definitely a must read for a little insight into how the sale of art works in this modern world of massive PR and marketing strategies, instant gratification, and buyer v. buyer bragging rights.
And yet another article with a fount of links to related articles at the end: Peter Lik–Like Him or Not.
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