Andreas Gursky

Known for: large-scale photographs of globalized environments

Andreas Gursky studied under Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Düsseldorf Academy and has developed a practice of large-scale photography that uses extensive post-production to construct images of overwhelming visual complexity. His photograph Rhein II (1999) sold at Christie's in 2011 for $4.3 million, the highest price paid for a photograph at auction at that time. He photographs stock exchanges, supermarkets, factories, and panoramic landscapes with equal dispassion.