Phantom (photograph)

Phantom

Artist	Peter Lik
Year	2013
Type	Photograph
Dimensions	150.495 cm x 100.33 cm (59 ¼”w x 39 ½”h)
Owner	Anonymous

Phantom is a photograph made in 2013 by Australian-born landscape photographer Peter Lik. In 2014, Lik alleged that a print was sold to a private collector for $6.5 million which, if true, would make it the most expensive photograph ever sold. However, many in the media and the art industry have expressed skepticism over the claimed sale price, noting that the alleged sale was handled privately instead of through an independent gallery or through an auction house (which could verify the sale), was to an anonymous buyer, and that no documentation had been provided to confirm the sale.[1] Furthermore, as the Sydney Morning Herald pointed out, Lik's photographs have generally low resale values, and he has a history of self-promotion.[2]

The photograph is a black and white derivative of Lik's previous color image titled Ghost, and was produced as a unique print. (Ghost was produced in an edition of 950 with an additional 45 artist's proofs.) Both images depict a ghost-like figure within a cavern at Antelope Canyon, Arizona.