Million dollar photo

The first photo ever sold at auction for over $US1 million is a photograph of a photograph aka a re-photograph. It's a photo of the Marlboro Man and it's taken from a 1970's cigarette ad. Taken by Richard Prince in 1989, the appropriation of the original photographer's image/work has been defended because it's the idea behind Prince's work, rather than its intrinsic value as an image, that's important, according to Alasdair Foster, director of the Australian Centre for Photography (as reported in the Daily Telegraph). I'm not sure I agree with this thinking though - just doesn't seem to be right. Although it might help solve a mystery - apparently no one knows who the original photographer was - so perhaps this will flush him or her out of the woodwork.